


The Space Between Us

by POTFFAN



Series: The Children of Mandalore [2]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blow Jobs, Din Djarin Whump, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Gen, Mandalorians (Star Wars), Near Death, Planet Mandalore (Star Wars), Poison, Post Season 2, Smut, The Mandalorian Darksaber (Star Wars), Unrequited Love, Vaginal Sex, Whump, sick din
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:48:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28445652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/POTFFAN/pseuds/POTFFAN
Summary: A year after the Season 2 finale father and son find themselves separated on different paths. With Din slowly gaining ground against the Empire as the new Mand'alore and Grogu becoming a powerful Jedi under Luke Skywalker's training, a dark presence hangs in the air, seeking to destroy the Mandalorian once and for all.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin/Fennec Shand
Series: The Children of Mandalore [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2039202
Comments: 99
Kudos: 61





	1. The Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovely readers! You asked and now you shall receive! I'm back with more Din and Fennec. I just love these two! This story is definitely a bit out of my comfort zone. We are venturing into unwritten season 3 territory so bear with me. I hope you enjoy!

Fennec couldn’t believe her eyes as the ship’s ramp lowered, revealing to her the vast terrain that was Mandalore. The stories weren’t far off. The ground that had once been lush farmland was now mostly acidic dirt where nothing could grow. A few twisted, resilient trees stuck up from the sandy soil, providing a stark contrast against the gray sky. Everything smelled sour and dusty but she’d been reassured that despite the obvious warning signs, the air on Mandalore was non-toxic. The scene before her would have been a bleak one indeed if it weren’t for the sprawling houses and tents that seemed to cover a good five acres of land. Banners and flags announced their owners; these belonged to Mandalorians. 

She took in a deep breath and tried to quell the butterflies in her stomach as she followed her pilot towards the camp. It had been nearly a year since she’d last seen Din. That day had been a blur of stress, danger, and emotion. He hadn’t even said goodbye to her, or anyone for that matter. As soon as the Jedi had disappeared with his little green foundling, Din had turned away from the elevator, a mixture of agony and grief on his face. For a moment it seemed like he’d forgotten anyone else was standing on the bridge as tears welled up in his dark brown eyes. Then, as if he was suddenly aware of the five pairs of eyes on him, he quickly scooped up his helmet and jammed it on his head.

“Let’s go,” he’d told Bo-Katan gruffly.

Fennec could tell the warrior did not enjoy being ordered around by someone who she clearly considered inferior but Din now possessed the dark saber and with it came the incredible burden of power. The Mandalorians had left silently, leaving everyone to watch as they reeled from everything that had happened. After that, Fennec had decided to go with Boba and try to wash away the night she and Din had spent together with spotchka and the violent life of a Huttese crime boss.

And then she received correspondence from him after almost a year of no contact. He wanted her to come to Mandalore for urgent business.

At first, she almost elected to ignore his message, but she reasoned that there were a plethora of reasons he’d been unable to contact her immediately. She was certain that suddenly becoming a ruler was daunting and time-consuming let alone raging a war against the Imperial remnant. Swallowing any doubt, she hired the first available pilot to fly her from Tatooine to Mandalore. And now she was here, being greeted by two Mandalorian scouts who were guarding the perimeter of the sprawling base.

“I’m here to see Din,” Fennec reported to the guard, eyeing the extensive weaponry they carried in addition to the bezoar covering their bodies. 

“You must be Fennec Shand,” one bright red armor replied. “May I see some ID?”

Fennec pressed a few buttons on the keypad of her bracer which pulled up a holographic projection of her chain code for the Mandalorian to scan. In a few minutes, the red-clad Mandalorian nodded his approval and motioned for her and her pilot to follow, leaving his companion behind to hold down the perimeter. She couldn’t help but admire the sheer size of the base and never in her life had she seen so many Mandalorians gathered in one place. She saw all shapes, sizes, and genders. There were older warriors clad in armor and young children running around sporting the familiar style helmet. Long gone were the days when one would only see a lone Mandalorian every so often. Now they were once again becoming a unified people and a thriving community.

“He’s just inside there,” the scout said, gesturing to a circular hut before leaving her to return to his post. He was confident she could handle walking the few steps to the entrance.

Fennec entered the hut and took in the sight before her. About seven or eight Mandalorians were sitting around a large conference table. All of them had their helmets off and she recognized Bo-Katan and Koska Reeves sitting among them. Most importantly, she saw Din with his helmet off sitting at the head of the table, and to her surprise, Cara was there too. He looked up and his brown eyes lit up when he saw her.

“Long time no see, Shand,” Din said with a smirk as he got to his feet. His armor was still the same. The same old silver helmet was resting on the table in front of him, but something was different about him. She imagined the last few months of shouldering the responsibilities of being a leader and heading up a war that had started long before he was born would change him.

“Same to you, Mando,” she replied with a smile. She nodded to Bo-Katan and Koska. “Ladies.”

“Get tired of hanging around with that scum lord of a boss?” Bo-Katan said. Her voice was icy.

“That’s enough, Bo-Katan,” Din warned sharply and the female Mandalorian rolled her eyes. Fennec could tell that even after all this time, Bo-Katan was still bitter over losing the darksaber.

“It’s good to see you again, Sharpshooter,” Cara said with a wide grin as she walked up to greet Fennec.

“You too, Marshall.”

“Cara’s been helping us gather intel on Moff Gideon and his forces since she has access to all the databases,” Din explained.

“I heard he escaped. I thought those were just rumors.”

“He wouldn’t have escaped if you’d just let me kill him when we had the chance,” Bo-Katan piped in.

“What’s done is done. All we can focus on now is trying to reclaim what’s ours,” Din said, putting an end to further dissent. Din turned to the Mandalorians seated around the table, awaiting their next instructions. “You are all dismissed. Prepare the feast and we will join you shortly.”

  
“Feast?” Fennec queried as the other Mandalorians followed by Koska and Bo-Katan filed out of the hut.

“We won our first victory against the Empire and have taken back a valuable position to set up a smaller outpost. It’s been months of work and everyone here deserves a break to take their minds off of everything,” Din explained as he allowed her to leave the hut first before following with Cara close behind.

“I’m very impressed,” Fennec replied as Din put his helmet back on and lead her through the camp. “I didn’t think you’d fall into this leadership position as well as you have.”

“If Fett managed to pull it off, I can too.” Fennec raised her eyebrow at him curiously, wondering how he could possibly know any of that.

“As a Marshall of the New Republic, I’ve got tabs on just about every slum lord on Tatooine,” Cara supplied. “But don’t worry. I owe Fett for saving our asses so his life can carry on as normal. We’ve got much bigger problems to worry about anyway.”

“Excellent. Fett has been making progress of his own taking back what the Hutts stole from him. I’m certain he will appreciate as little interference as possible.”

Cara gave her an affirming nod before turning to Din. “I’ll run on ahead and make sure they don’t need my help. I’ll see you both in a minute,” she said before jogging off.

The sun was setting and the strange, barren earth was set ablaze with an eerie glow. Fennec remembered hearing stories of the paradise this world once was, and she supposed that once the wicked were driven out from its barriers its rightful owners would breathe new life back into it.

“Fett wanted me to make sure you were alright after everything that happened,” Fennec said presently as they continued to walk through the base. “Seems he’s got a soft spot for you, Mando.”

“As long as I have a goal to work towards I’m fine. All of this has taken up my time and given me something to keep my mind occupied,” Din replied. Fennec knew he meant to keep his mind off of missing his foundling.

“You seem to be a natural-born leader,” Fennec observed and Din scoffed underneath his helmet.

“I hardly know what I’m doing. I was raised in the fighting core and fought during The Purge but leading is so…different. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Clearly you do. Look at what you’ve helped to build,” Fennec said as she gestured to the base surrounding them. “For years I was told stories of the Mandalorians and the community they built but I never thought I would live to see these stories come true. No one did.”

“Thank you,” Din replied as they arrived at a large hut. It was undoubtedly the largest building In the base. “This is our assembly hall.”

She could hear the twinge of pride in his voice and she smiled as he let her enter the hall first. Music drifted through the air and mingled with the laughter and chatter of Mandalorians young and old. Fennec had never seen so many in one place and her eyes widened at the spectacle. “Wow,” she breathed out in awe.

“I still can’t believe it sometimes,” Din agreed. “My old covert wasn’t even a fourth of this size.”

“Ah, it’s the Mand’alore himself!” A burly man in heavy Mandalorian armor bellowed as he came up and slapped Din on the back. “Have some ale!” He passed Din a large stein brimming with a special brew that was specific to Mandalorians. Fennec knew it would be strong with a stiff bite. The man’s gaze shifted to her. “And who is your friend?”

“This is Fennec Shand,” Din introduced. “Fennec, this is my general, Zura Stours. Finest warrior on Mandalore.”

“He’s exaggerating, Ma’am. We would be nothing without our fearless leader. Now drink up! And be merry!” Stours shouted happily as he moved to find more of his comrades. Din downed the drink before setting the empty stein on a nearby table.

“He’s a bit intoxicated right now but Stours is one of the greatest warriors I’ve ever seen. Now, feast, drink. I’ll come find you in a bit.”

Fennec watched him leave and mingle with his newfound family. She had to admit it was nice to know that he wasn’t alone. She didn’t think he would ever recover after saying goodbye to his little adopted son but he seemed to be adjusting to this new family well. One thing she couldn’t understand was why she was here. It was lovely to see everyone but she hadn’t quite figured a reason for him wanting her there. Perhaps it was to reassure her that he was thriving and doing well. Perhaps she was just the messenger between him and his former mentor. She could only wonder as she partook of the food, ale, and celebration.

About three hours passed before Fennec saw Din again. He’d picked her out of the crowd and walked up to her. “Hey, come with me,” he said, gesturing out of the assembly hall.

Fennec immediately sensed a change in his demeanor and followed him out of the hall. “What’s going on?” She asked as they stepped out into the moonlight.

“Come here. I want to show you the real reason I wanted you to come.” He led her to a modest-sized hut that was set aside from the rest of the base and gestured for her to enter.

“What is this?” She asked, trying to pick out any sign of something spectacular in the simply furnished room. There was a bed off to one side, a couch in the middle, and a kitchen with a small dining table and two chairs taking up the rest of the space.

“This is my home,” Din replied as he stripped off his helmet. “Fennec?”

She heard a huskiness in his voice that she’d heard in his voice only one other time and she turned to face him. “Din?”

He surged forward and his lips met her lips in a heated kiss. She was stunned for a moment but then leaned into his kiss as she cupped his face in her hands. For a moment she was left breathless and she was instantly transported to that night they first made love, when he’d taken off his helmet and bared his soul to her. He pulled back and she was overwhelmed by how beautiful his brown eyes were.

“I have not stopped thinking about you since that night,” he said in a low voice.

“Me either,” Fennec breathed before she was kissing him again, her tongue sliding into his mouth and tangling with his.

“Take off your clothes,” he growled and Fennec felt the arousal pool in her belly as she broke away and started to peel out of her clothes in record time. She watched him do the same, shedding his armor bit by bit until he was naked before her.

“Din,” she moaned before he was kissing her again and walking her back toward his bed. She stopped when she felt the softness of the mattress press against the back of her legs. “Wait, Din.”

“What? Are you ok?” He asked, looking into her face with concern.

“Yes! Of course. It’s just, I want to please you first,” she said as she switched places with him and eased him down so he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

“That’s my job,” he protested but sucked in a sharp breath when he took his cock into her hands.

“Not tonight. Tonight, I’m going to suck you off, Mand’alore,” she said with a smirk as she pepped kisses along his jaw and stroked his hard length. He let out a gasping whimper as he reached up and squeezed her breasts. She could feel his skin heating up as she kissed her way down his chest and abdomen. His breath was coming in deep gasps and she could tell he was getting worked up.

“Just breathe,” she murmured as she settled on her knees between his legs and took his cock into her mouth.

“Oh…oh my-“ he strangled a grunt as his hips flexed a little. “Stars Fennec,” he moaned as he tangled one hand in her long tresses.

She couldn’t believe how right it felt to suck him off as she worked his cock, relishing in his sounds of pleasure. Moving her mouth up and down his length, she wanted to milk him for everything he was worth. He thrust into her mouth and she moaned. His head was thrown back and she knew he wouldn’t last much longer as she began to suck the tip.

“W-wait!” He gasped as he pulled her off his shaft.

“I thought I was going to finish you off,” she purred, feeling her own arousal soak her thighs.

“I want to feel you,” he growled as he pulled her up onto his lap and guided his hard length to her entrance. Their moans mingled together as she snuck down onto him until she was seated fully on his lap.

“Fuck you feel amazing,” he breathed out as he kissed her neck and along her collar bone. “I want you to cum for me.” Laying back, he gripped her hips and started to thrust into her. Trust Din to have full control, even on the bottom.

“Din,” she breathed out as he hit the right spot with every thrust, slowly building her climax. “Din, fuck, you feel so good.” She couldn’t hold back her whimpers and moans as he thrust into her and she lost it when she felt him start to rub her clit with his thumb.

“Cum for me, beautiful. Cum nice and hard for me.” His voice, his fingers, all of it was driving her wild. He had haunted her mind since that night. Every night she thought about how good he felt. She was addicted to the way he tasted, the way his fingers left marks on her skin. She wanted to drink him up and never get enough of it.

“Fuck Din. I’m-I’m-“ she couldn’t even draw in the breath to speak as her climax built at a rapid pace. She was going to explode at any given moment.

“That’s it, _cyar’ika,_ ” he grunted, nearing his own orgasm.

Something about hearing him speak his native tongue set her off and she came hard as she clenched down on him and screamed his name. He rode out her orgasm before he let out a series of strangled moans and painted her insides with his cum. Collapsing against him, they laid like that for a while, listening to each other’s heartbeats and heavy breathing as their sweat mingled.

“I missed you,” she murmured as she gave him a lazy kiss, which he returned.

“I missed you too.”

***************

“What’s that?” She asked, gently picking up a little silver ball on a chain that was looped around his neck and resting against his bare chest. She was lying in bed beside him and resting her head on his shoulder.

A deep sigh escaped his lungs. “The kid, it belonged on the end of one of the controls on the _Razorcrest_. The kid loved to play with it. I meant to give it back to him when we rescued him but…everything happened so fast and it didn’t have time. I figured I’d hold onto it until-“ he stopped and Fennec heard him swallow thickly like he was trying to gather the courage to say anything else.

“You will see him again, Din,” she said softly as she stroked his cheek. “He’s your boy. Anyone could see that. But I have faith that you will be reunited someday when it’s time.”

“I hope so,” he replied into the dark as he wrapped his arm around her.

****************

The vomiting started in the middle of the night. Fennec hadn’t thought much about it when Din had gotten out of bed and padded to the refresher but then the sounds of violent retching had grabbed her attention and jerked her out of sleep. Rubbing her eyes she sat on the edge of the bed, growing more concerned bit by bit.

“Din? Are you alright?” She called. He didn’t answer and she heard a pained groan followed by more vomiting. Something was definitely wrong with him and she got up and walked to the refresher. “Din?”

She opened the door and found him hunched over the vac tube, gripping it so hard his knuckles were turning white. Sweat had already started to form on his skin and she watched his muscles spasm as he started heaving again. She couldn’t imagine what had upset his stomach so badly but she could tell it was painful if the soft groans in between heaves were any indicator.

“It’s alright, Din. It’s alright,” she soothed as she rubbed his back and after a few more minutes he slumped away from the vac tube. She flushed it and squatted next to him. “Hey, you alright?”

“Freezing,” he murmured and she felt his forehead, frowning when she felt some heat there. It wasn’t high enough to be a cause of concern yet, but the fever definitely ruled out food poisoning as a possibility.

“I think you must have caught a bug or something. Let’s get you back into bed so you can rest,” she urged and he nodded.

Carefully she helped him to his feet, catching him as he swayed a bit and encoring him to lean on her. It was a slow trek back to the bed but at last, they made it and she helped him lay down. He was shaking and sweating as his eyes slipped closed. Whatever he caught, it was hitting him hard and fast. Quickly she moved to the kitchen and fetched a glass of water before returning to his bedside.

“Hey, Mando,” she urged and he opened his eyes a sliver. “Drink a little of this and then you can rest,” she urged as she guided the cup into his trembling hand and watched as he raised it to his lips. He took a few sips before handing it back to her and slumping back down on the pillow.

“Stay,” he murmured.

“Of course,” she replied as she climbed into bed beside him once more, hoping that he would sleep through the night.

He didn’t.

Din ended up vomiting roughly every half hour. After the fifth time, it made more sense for Fennec to grab a large bowl from the kitchen to hold under his chin when the retching started up. He was sweaty and weak and honestly, a trip to the refresher would have been too difficult for him in this state. Fennec chewed her lip nervously as she watched him hunch over the bowl once more. He’d thrown up everything in his stomach and if it wasn’t for the water he was getting in between bouts.This seemed a lot more serious than any bug she’d ever seen. Perhaps he’d picked up some kind of strange virus that thrived in this planet’s hostile environment and that was why it was hitting him so hard.

“F-Fennec,” Din moaned as he started heaving again. His stomach was cramping painfully as it tried to turn itself inside out.

“I know, Din. I know. It’s alright. Just get it all up and you can rest,” she soothed as she carded her fingers through his hair, trying to get him to relax. He gagged and started coughing up fluid again. This time was different. She could hear genuine pain coming from him as he gripped the bowl and spasmed again and again. It had been a long, long night and she bet money that his body was sore from the torture he’d been forced to put it through.

He sighed as he finished and nearly pitched backward. His body was too weak to hold itself up. Quickly, she grabbed him and eased him back to the mattress before taking the bowl from him and going to wash it out. She looked down and suddenly her eyes went wide. There was blood in the bowl.

“Din, where’s a healer or a medic, or whatever you guys have here?”

“South side of the base,” he rasped in a voice that was raw and grating. “Why?”

“I just want him to look you over. Just relax and I’ll be right back. Here, I’m leaving the bowl on the nightstand,” she said, placing the bowl on the small table before bolting out of his hut to the South side of the base.

Something was very wrong.


	2. Trust No One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fennec cares for Din and makes a startling discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Back with another chapter. I'm so excited about this story and I'm utterly overwhelmed by how much people love it. I appreciate all your comments and kudos! Lots of whump and fluff in this chapter so enjoy!

Fennec fought every fiber in her body that wanted to pace worriedly while the medic examined Din. She’d sprinted the entire way to the med bay, her footsteps light and quick like the wind so as not to wake anyone else up. And then she’d practically dragged the medic back to Din’s hut. Now, she was fighting the urge to bite her nails as she waited, watching the sun slowly start to dawn.

“Fennec?” She jerked her head up at the sound of her name and saw Cara, Bo-Katan, and Stours walking up towards the hut. “What are you doing here?” Cara queried.

“I, uh, Din let me stay here since I didn’t have a place to sleep. He got sick last night. The medic is checking him over. What are you doing here?”

“We had a meeting scheduled with Din at dawn. He likes an early start. Sick? Sick how?” Cara was instantly concerned.

“He was up most of the night throwing up. This morning he threw up blood. Felt like he was running a bit of a fever.”

Concerned looks were passed around and the three newcomers burned to ask more questions. However, they were interrupted when the medic opened the door to the hut.

“Could I speak to the woman who fetched me last night?” She asked.

“That’s me,” Fennec pipped up as she followed the medic inside, leaving the Marshall, Mandalorians, and their questioning eyes behind. The first sound that assaulted her ears was Din’s heavy breathing and she couldn’t tell if it was because he’d just finished throwing up or if that was what he could manage now. She desperately wanted to take his hand into hers and reassure him that she was beside him.

“I confess, I haven’t seen anything quite like this. We’ve been getting strange viruses running through the base occasionally. We are still acclimating to the environment here so it’s possible it’s that.” She stopped and took her spectacles off and folded them into her bag.

“What? Is there more?”

“It’s quite possible that he might have been subjected to some kind of poison. I wouldn’t have originally thought it but the blood in his bile is concerning.” The medic’s voice was low as if she was afraid to say anything out loud.

“Poisoned?” Fennec tried to keep the horror out of her tone.

“I’ve taken a couple of blood samples to be certain. If he was poisoned it must be due to something growing here on this god-forsaken planet. He’s far too respected and loved for anyone to want to do that to him.”

Bo-Katan and the condescending way she talked to Din and her scornful looks directed towards him flashed in Fennec’s mind for a minute but she shook them away. The medic said she wasn’t sure. For all they knew this was still just a virus.

“When will we know?”

“I’m off to test it now. It should only take a few hours.”

“Thank you,” Fennec replied gratefully and the medic nodded.

“I’ll be back when I get the test results. Come get me if you need me.”

Fennec translated the slight stutter in the medic’s voice into “if he gets worse” and nodded again as the medic left, shooing everyone outside away for now. Confident that she was safe, she retreated to Din’s bedside and took in his condition. He was pale and sweat was forming on his face as heavy gasps pulled themselves from slightly parted lips. He looked like he was in pain more than anything and worry settled in her stomach. Noticing his fingers were unconsciously grasping at the bedsheets she reached over and gently took his hand into hers. That seemed to jar him from whatever restless sleep he was stumbling through and his eyes peeled open.

“H-hey,” he murmured softly.

“Hey there. How are you feeling?” The answer was obvious but something about him being coherent and talking eased her anxiety a little bit.

“Like shit.”

“I know,” she soothed, brushing his damp bangs back.

“So poisoned eh?” His voice was raspy and grating.

“We don’t know that yet, Din. The medic wasn’t sure.”

He gripped her hand tightly for a moment and there was a serious look in his fever-bright eyes. She almost recoiled at his severe expression. “Don’t tell anyone.”

“Don’t tell anyone what?”

“About us. I-If I did get poisoned, they might try to hurt you too.”

“Din, you know I can take care of myself. I dare anyone to try and fuck with me.”

“Please.”

There was desperation in his eyes and Fennec swallowed the lump in her throat. Din was not an unreasonable man. He didn’t lose his cool, or jump to conclusions, and he definitely didn’t panic. So when he was practically begging her, Fennec knew he was deadly serious.

“Alright, Din. Alright. I won’t say anything to anyone,” she reassured as she rubbed his arm.

He nodded as he let his eyes slipped closed for a moment as he sucked in deep, frantic breaths through his nose. His face was paling rapidly and the hand that wasn’t holding hers was pressed tightly against his stomach.

“Are you getting sick?” She nudged.

Din shook his head frantically but then groaned as the movement churned up the nausea even more.

“Don’t fight it, Din. I’m right here. I’m right here with you,” she reassured as she grabbed the bowl from off the bedside table and put it in his lap before she moved to help him sit up. He was already groaning as the muscles in his abdomen spasmed and she slid in behind him so she could keep his body upright.

Din hunched over the bowl and grabbed it with a crushing grip as he started vomiting again. She could feel his muscles tense with every heave and she rubbed his back comfortingly. Words of comfort tumbled haphazardly out of her mouth and she wasn’t really aware of what she was saying as she talked him through it. When he was finished he slumped back bonelessly in her arms, panting from the effort. She set the bowl aside, she’d wash it out in a bit, and exchanged it for the glass of water that had been left there earlier.

“Small sips, Din,” she urged as she tipped the glass to his lips.

He took a few tentative ones before pushing her hand away and letting his head loll until his forehead was resting in the crook of her neck. She set the water down before she relaxed against the headboard and gently smoothed her hand over the side of his face, trying to get him to relax.

“Don’t go,” he breathed out as his eyes closed.

“I’m not. I promise,” she reassured. “Just rest. I’ve got you.”

**************

Fennec watched the soup swirl around her spoon as she stirred. Din had been sleeping soundly for almost two hours now. It was the longest reprieve from the vomiting he’d gotten since it started and she sincerely hoped that whatever he’d ingested that was making him so sick might have finally run its course. A delightful smell wafted from the pot she currently stood over. It was her grandmother’s recipe and Fennec knew the older woman would be proud to see she’d perfected it. Ladling some of the clear broth into a cup she carefully carried it over to the bed. Concern furrowed her brow when she found Din panting and sweating like he’d just run a marathon and she set the mug on the bedside table before resting her hand against his forehead. He groaned and his eyes peeled open.

“Fennec?”

“Just checking your temperature. Feels like your fever’s spiking some.”

“Head’s pounding.”

“Probably a combination of the fever and constant vomiting,” she sat on the edge of the bed. “Think you can stomach down some broth?”

Din groaned.

“I know but you need something in your stomach other than water. This is an old recipe. It always helps.”

Din sighed as he inched his way back on shaky arms, slowly pushing himself up until he was sitting in a semi-upright position against the pillows. She handed the cup of broth to him and he took it into his shaking hand. “Thank you.”

“Don’t try to down it in one gulp. Take small sips,” Fennec reminded and Din nodded before taking a sip.

“Did the medic tell you anything yet?” Din asked between sips.

“Not yet. She said it would take a few hours.” She watched him as he sipped carefully, satisfied that he’d set a comfortable pace in which to eat his soup. “Cara, Bo-Katan, and Stours stopped by this morning.”

“Need to meet with them,” Din rasped as he took another sip. “We’re in the middle of a war and I can’t afford to be down. You should fetch them.”

Fennec shook her head. “Din, you’re very sick. Let’s wait and see how well you manage this soup and some more rest and if it looks like you’re turning a corner I _might_ let you play king from your bed.” She gave him a teasing smirk as he finished the last bit of soup and set the cup on the table.

“Thank you,” he rumbled as she moved to lay back down. She helped and in a minute he was lying down and comfortable again. Before she could sit back he reached up and cupped her face gently, his thumb stroking her cheek. She rested her hand over his, leaning into his touch.

“The kid made you soft,” she hummed.

“You did,” he murmured.

She gave him a small smile before leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on his lips. He was starting to relax under her touch as she deepened her embrace. Suddenly he stiffened and flinched away as he pressed his head back against the pillow. She saw a spasm of pain cross his features as a grunt slipped past his lips.

“Din?” He puffed out a few breaths before he relaxed against the bed again. “You alright?”

“Y-yeah. Been getting pains every now and then,” he replied tiredly.

“Where?” She asked, masking the concern in her voice.

Gently he took her hand and pressed it against his upper belly right about where his liver was. She held her hand for a beat, checking for any inflammation or heat but she didn’t feel anything in particular that was out of the ordinary.

“How often are you getting these pains?”

“Not often. Just every once in a great while,” he replied, relaxing a little under her touch.

“Alright. Let me know if it gets any worse or you start feeling them frequently.”

She watched him nod and try to drift off to sleep but his muscles were tense and he couldn’t uncoil. Gently, she started tracing her fingers along his skin. The moment he felt her touch Din felt himself melt into the sensation. For so many nights after he was separated from his foundling when he would wake up aching for his small presence in his arms or any kind of physical contact for that matter, his mind would drift to these healing touches. An indescribable peace filled him and _stars_ if he could just feel her touch for the rest of his life he might feel some sort of completeness. He drifted off into a sleep filled with fevered dreams.

Once Fennec was certain Din had finally fallen asleep she crawled into bed beside him, feeling her own exhaustion pull at her. She’d been up since his sickness started and between the stress and fear, she was completely strung out. Lying on her side so she could face him, she studied his features. She hadn’t had the time to truly comprehend the fact that he was helmet-less. When he’d taken it off on the light cruiser it had been such an intimate and sudden moment Fennec had found herself looking away, feeling almost guilty for intruding on such a private moment. She’d already had her intimate moment, the night before, when he let her see his face with her hands. He’d been so gentle with her, letting her fingers explore his features. And now, as she took in his relaxed expression and pale complexion, she couldn’t help but feel the same way she did that night.

Their destinies were a funny thing.

***************

“Fennec!”

She was bolting upright just as Din managed to roll onto his side and grab the bowl clumsily before vomiting into it. The soup and any water he’d ingested came up and Fennec slipped an arm around his chest to keep him from pitching forward as his stomach continued to twist itself inside out. When he finished he spat a few times and Fennec took the bowl from him before easing him onto his back.

“Hang on, Din,” she said as she switched out the bowl for the water.

This particular movement was becoming second nature to her as she tipped the cup to his lips. He took a few sips and then turned away as his breathing kicked up frantically. He moaned and his hand clutched desperately at the silver ball on the chain around his neck, trying to anchor himself and fight the pain and nausea simultaneously.

“Breathe, Din. Just slow your breathing down,” she urged, gently carding her fingers through his sweaty hair.

He shook his head and grunted in pain. Fennec saw him gag once and in the next moment, she was hauling him forward and thrusting the bowl under his chin just in time for him to start throwing up straight blood. The room was thrown into chaos. Din was crying out in pain between heaves and Fennec was trying to keep him calm as the medic followed by Cara burst into the hut.

“Shit,” the medic breathed as she hurried to Din’s side, trying to control the havoc. Cara had the good sense to stay back but her face was full of horror and concern. At last, Din finished and slumped back against the bed shaking as a raspy groan pulled from him. “What has he had since I was last here?”

“Clear broth, which he threw up, and water,” Fennec reported.

“Let’s cut fluids by mouth for now.I’ll get him started on an IV.” She pulled Fennec off to the side next to Cara. “His tests came back. He was poisoned, and I don’t think this was something biological. I don’t have the full labs back but it appears this was manufactured.

“What does that mean?” Cara asked.

“It means someone is trying to kill him.”

Fennec felt the news sink in her stomach like a brick. She wanted to throw up herself but she swallowed the bile down, burning her throat in the process. “What do we do?” She demanded.

  
“We won’t do anything yet. I still need to run some tests and we have absolutely no evidence to go on right now. I’ll try to flush his system and see if we can’t fix it that way. I don’t want to cause a panic among our ranks until it’s necessary.” Cara and Fennec nodded.

“Who would do such a thing?”

“The medic said we didn’t know if that’s what happened yet,” Fennec replied but she was playing last night over in her head. It was a mixture of Bo-Katan’s cutting tone, sly looks, and dirty stares that were mingled into a crowd of people who called themselves friends and family. It suddenly felt like no one could be trusted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! The plot is about to kick up big time so get ready for a wild ride! As always, please rate and review!


	3. Separated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tempers and accusations fly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I'm back with more! I hope you're still enjoying this story. Nothing but whump, angst, fluffy fluff, and a classic case of who-dunnit. Let me know what ya'll think and enjoy!

Fennec sat beside the bed. She yearned to climb in it beside Din and hold him close but Cara, Bo-Katan, the medic, and Stours were here and she had to fight the urge. The IV line running out of his arm was unnatural but at least for now, he had a small reprieve from the vomiting. It was nice to see him sleeping soundly for once.

“Why are we all here?” Bo-Katan asked.

“You and Stours are the Mand’alor’s second in command. He trusts you explicitly so I know you will make sure this information is handled with complete discretion.” The medic’s tone was severe. It needed to be in order to reach the strong personalities in the room. They all nodded, including Fennec. “I’ve received more lab results and I can confirm that the Mand’alore was poisoned. I’m still trying to determine how and what it is. Until then, we need to keep this under wraps until we have some evidence.”

“The evidence is currently lying dehydrated in a bed,” Cara growled.

“But we don’t know how he ingested it or who did it and if we announce it we could risk losing who is responsible. For now, I trust you will go about this carefully, perhaps ask around and try to get a feel for what happened at the feast. Judging by when he started getting sick I’m concluding that must be when he was dosed.”

“We’ll catch the _hut'uun_ who did this,” Stours seethed. (Coward)

“What about his foundling?” Cara asked suddenly.

“Come again?” The medic replied.

“He has a foundling. The child is currently being trained by a Jedi but-but if,” Cara trailed off. She didn’t want to vocalize her thoughts.

“There’s no need for that yet. I’m confident I can figure out what this is and cure it or at least flush it from his system.”

Cara nodded but Fennec didn’t feel confident. She’d be at Din’s side since the very beginning of this. Poisons were something she’d see a lot of in her career but she’d never seen something like what was coursing through Din’s veins before. She stole a look at Bo-Katan, who’d been oddly silent through all this and rage pumped through her blood. For all she knew, Din’s attempted killer was standing in this room.

“I’m going to go ahead and start treating him so I need everyone to clear out of this hut now,” the medic said as she started shooing everyone away towards the door.

 _Even me?_ Fennec thought to herself. She wanted to fight. She wanted to insist that she stay and make sure Din knew he wasn’t alone. She wanted to ease any pain he might experience while the medic was treating him. But of course, that was an impossibility. The weight of her promise to him to keep their relationship, whatever it was, a secret hung heavy on her heart as she filed out of the hut with the others. Stours and Cara left the group behind. Both were rather fired up by the news and their agitated pace was proof. Fennec found herself at a loss for what to do. Hang around until the medic was finished? Except for that would look absurdly suspicious. It wasn’t like she had any other friends here except Cara. She supposed she could go play investigator with her and Stours until Din was finished. She started in their direction when she felt a strong hand grab her. Spinning around, she came face to face with Bo-Katan.

“You’re hiding something.” The Mandalorian didn’t even give time for a proper warm-up before she started flinging accusations.

“What?”

“Why are you here?”

“Boba Fett has been mentoring Din. He’s been unable to come here so he sent me instead.” She gave Bo-Katan a look of contempt as she lied. “Something about not being welcome here.”

“I know that coward and imposter wants to sink his fingers into my throne. Why else would you be here?”

“It’s not _yours._ It’s Din’s,” Fennec snarled. “How do I know you aren’t the one who did it?”

“I am Din’s closest advisor. I was the one who saved him.”

“Exactly. The darksaber falls to you next if he dies. You knew you’d never be able to win it from him in combat, so you took the coward’s way out and poisoned him instead.”

Bo-Katan sneered and suddenly lunged for Fennec’s throat. Something snapped inside the former assassin and she blocked her attack and struck back. The air became filled with enraged cries and grunts as the two women tussled, trying to pin the other. White-hot rage ran through Fennec, enveloping every fiber of her body. She was numb to everything else except the fact that this woman was insulting the people most important in her life, and was quite possibly trying to kill one of them. Bo-Katan’s beskar smashed against her body, probably bruising the skin severely but Fennec didn’t even feel it. She was vaguely aware of shouting somewhere behind her but she was too busy trying to knock Bo-Katan’s teeth in to notice. Strong arms grabbed around her torso and yanked her off the Mandalorian. Every instinct told her to thrash and flail

“Fennec! Stop!” Cara’s voice was sharp and overlapped Stours’ billowing one as he shouted the same command to Bo-Katan. She went boneless in Cara’s arms for a moment, panting with the exertion.

“What the hell has gotten into the two of you?” Stours yelled. The two women never took their eyes off each other and Fennec yanked out of Cara’s grip.

“Nothing,” she scowled as she turned and walked away. Something tickled her lip and she scrubbed the back of her hand across her mouth, only to discover that her lip had been busted open and was bleeding.

***************

“Miss?”

Fennec turned from the ale she was drinking and saw the medic approaching. “Everything alright?”

“I’ve come to fetch you. He wants you.”

Fennec got up, abandoning the ale, and followed the medic out of the mess hall she’d found solace in. It was quiet for a moment as they walked through the camp. “So, did it work?”

The medic shook her head. “Whatever this is, I couldn't flush it. Once I get you back I’m going to the lab to continue running tests. Whatever this is, I’ll figure it out.”

Fennec nodded. She’d been doing that a lot recently but her grandmother had always instructed that if she couldn’t contribute something useful to the conversation it was better to not speak at all. They reached Din’s hut and the medic pressed a commlink into her hand.

“Go on in. If you need me you can just give me a shout,” the medic said as she waved her own commlink before hiking back to her labs.

Fennec took a deep breath and entered the hut, feeling safe once more. Din was lying in bed with his eyes opened halfway and his head lolled in her direction. She swore she saw his eyes light up a little bit as she moved to his bedside and sat on the edge. “Hey there. How are you feeling?”

“I’ve had better experiences,” he rasped, his eyes closing briefly when her hand rested on his forehead.

“What did you have to do?”

“Made me drink activated charcoal.”

Fennec winced. She had to do that only once in her life and that was more than plenty. “Yeah. It’s no fun. You need to get some sleep,” she urged, seeing how tired he looked.

“You do too. You’ve been up as long as I have,” he urged as he pushed back the covers so she could climb in, which she did.

Lying on her side, she ran her fingers through his hair, stroking his scalp lightly. He sighed as he let his eyes close. “I’m so sorry, Din,” she murmured.

“Not your fault. I’m not a king. I didn’t want this. I-I just wanted-“ She hushed him gently. She knew what he wanted. He wanted to go back to the days when it was just him and his little foundling traipsing the galaxy together. He wanted those days back when he didn’t feel so utterly alone. She could see it in his eyes and the way he refused to take the kid’s little ball off from around his neck.

“I know. I know. I promise you, it won’t always be like this. Now don’t get yourself worked up. Rest,” she urged as she snuggled close to him, hoping he would do the same.

He sighed and rested his head against her shoulder as he let himself drift off.

***************

Din jerked awake, sucking in a sharp breath as the pain that had been bugging him every once in a while struck with a vengeance. It was different this time. This was much worse than anything he’d experienced so far. Shooting a side glance at Fennec, he saw she was sound asleep and he felt guilty. She’d been up taking care of him for hours with no rest and he didn’t want to wake her. The pain was growing in intensity and he pressed his head back against the pillow. His teeth were clenched so hard he was afraid he might break his jaw and his breath came in short bursts. Just when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore, the pain crested and then started to subside. It felt like he could breathe and he hoped that would be the only pain he’d experience for a while.

It wasn’t.

***************

There was a strange rasping sound sawing through her dreams. She’d been dreaming of her village where she lived with her grandmother. They’d been picking wildflowers when that sound started up and it was getting louder and louder. It was destroying the flowers and sucking in the earth around her. She tried to scream but another pained cry overlapped hers and suddenly her dream was gone; vanishing like morning mist.

“Din?” It was too dark to see anything but she could hear his pained whimpers cutting through gasps for breath. Reaching over, she flicked on the light on the bedside table. The warm glow highlighted the sweat rolling down his face, which was pulled tight with pain. “Whoa! Hey, what’s wrong?”

“P-pain’s back,” he gritted out as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Same place?” He gave her a curt nod and she gently took his hand into her. “Just breathe Din. I’ve got you. Squeeze my hand when you need to. It’ll pass.”

Din’s grip was tight for a bit and then started to ease off. “S-sorry I woke you up. Was trying not to.”

“Don’t apologize Din. You’re hurting. This isn’t your fault.” She stroked his cheek gently. “You try to take on the whole galaxy by yourself. Trust me when I say being gut shot and nearly dying in the desert has taught me there is strength in numbers. Boba’s compassion and your kindness have changed me.”

“And you think I've gone soft,” he muttered, giving her a weak smirk. “It’s kinda nice on you.”

“You too, metal man.”

He smiled but it was wiped off his face as his grip clenched hard around her hand and he turned his face away from her. His chest spasmed with his heavy breaths as a soft cry slipped past his lips. The pain must be racking up again. Gently, she guided his face so he was looking at her.

“Hey, eyes on me. Breathe. Just breathe slowly. It’s alright. Just focus on me and breathe,” she coaxed. “Follow my breathing.” 

He continued to grip her hand with crushing force and try to follow her slow breaths. Fennec could tell this wave, in particular, was very intense but she doubled down on her grip and forced herself not to think about how bad her hand hurt. He was trying too hard to fight back, to reign in the spasms of agony that were crawling all over his body. Just when she thinks she couldn’t take any more pressure his hand relaxed and with an almost relieved sigh the tension left his body.

“Hey, do you remember that night we were together?” Fennec asked presently, trying to take his mind off the pain he was feeling. Din nodded as his eyes closed. He was so exhausted and drained. “That wasn’t just some foolish mistake was it?”

“No,” he rasped. “I haven’t regretted it once. Have you?”

“Not at all, Din. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.”

“Me either.” His voice was a little more than a murmur now.

“Rest Din.” It was quiet for a few minutes.

“Please…” he whimpered suddenly as his breathing kicked up again. “Please no.”

“Din? What’s wrong?”

“Please don’t go.” There was pain in his voice.

“I’m not going anywhere, Din. I promised.” His eyes weren’t focused on her but seem to be attempting to settle on something off in the distance somewhere. 

“Please don’t take him.”

“Take who?”

“Grogu…please. I’m coming ad’ika. I’m coming.”

“Din. Hey! Hey, look at me Din. Your son isn’t here. Remember. Hey! Eyes on me Mando!” She said sharply as she captured his face in her hands and coaxed his head to face her. She hadn’t meant for her tone to be so cutting but he was really starting to scare her.

“Please,” he begged again in a breathless voice.

“Din. It’s not real. He’s not here. Focus on me. I’m here. I’m real. It’s alright. Just focus on me,” she said over and over in a low voice as she stroked his face and his hair, attempting to connect him to the real world.

His eyes darted around the room a little longer before finally settling on her and he took a shuddering breath as if he was waking up from a dream. “F-Fennec?”

“You with me?”

“Y-yeah.” He sounded scared and uncertain and it was breaking her heart. With a low groan, he shifted onto his side and buried his face against her hip as his arm wrapped around his middle. She could feel his wheezy breaths against the cloth of her pants as she reached over and made sure he didn’t tug his IV line out.

“Sleep, Din. It’ll be alright in the morning,” she soothed gently.

***************

Dawn was breaking when the medic entered the hut quietly with a fresh IV bag, hoping she wouldn’t wake anyone. To her surprise, she saw Fennec sitting up in bed wide awake. Din was slumped over in her lap sound asleep and she was running her fingers through his hair.

“Hey, how was last night?” The medic asked softly.

“Finally fell asleep about an hour ago. He was up all night with stomach pain.”

The medic sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly. “Still haven’t had any breakthroughs but I’m going to keep trying.”

Fennec chewed her lip for a moment and watched as the medic switched out the empty IV bag for the new, full one and checked Din’s vitals using a med scanner. “How is he looking?”

“Heart rate and blood pressure are a bit high. Fever is up. Oxygen saturation is a little lower than I would like but considering what he’s going through everything is still within acceptable levels. I’ve concluded that this is a very slow-moving poison. It’s possible his attempted killer wanted to mimic a virus as closely as possible.”

Fennec sighed. Putting “attempted” in front of the word “killer” didn’t help the situation at all. It only reminded her that somebody wanted Din dead. She took a deep breath. “He needs his son here. The child has a very powerful bond with him and if anyone is going to keep him fighting it’s his foundling.”

“How can I make that happen?” The medic asked. “Whatever he needs, we’ll do it.”

“Send Cara. She has connections and the New Republic Rangers in her pocket. She’ll be able to find him and the Jedi the fastest.”

The medic nodded. “I’ll get her on it now,” she promised before she hastily left the hut. Fennec sighed and looked down at the man sleeping in her arms. Her fingers softly traced down his cheek.

“We’re bringing your son, Din. He’ll be here soon. You have to hold for him,” Fennec whispered to his unconscious form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know how you're enjoying the story in the comments and if you have any guesses yet as to who is responsible. Your comments always brighten my day. :)


	4. The Rising Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The threat over Din and Mandalore grows closer and Cara sets off on her journey to find Luke and Grogu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! Sorry this took so long. Good news is I'm slowly on the mend and am starting to feel like my old self. Thank you to all who have been checking in on me. I hope you like this chapter!

“So you sure you don’t need me to stay here? Or want to come with me?” Cara asked Fennec as she slung her bag onto her back.

“You’re the only one with the connections to hunt down the Jedi and the kid. And I need to stay here and help the medic. I have healing experience.”

“Alright. I’ll be back as soon as I can. You keep him fighting.”

“I will. Don’t worry,” Fennec promised and watched as the shock trooper took her leave before turning her attention back to Din, who was currently still sleeping with his head in her lap. He’d woken up briefly and seemed a tad bit disoriented but then slipped back off to slumber. She imagined that the strain he’d undergone in the past 48 hours was wearing his body down.

“Pain killer should be finished any minute now. He doesn’t look like he needs it this moment but it’ll be good to have it on hand,” the medic stated from where she was working at the dining room table.

“Good. It would have been nice to have it last night but we had no way of knowing.”

“We also had no way of knowing that a basic painkiller would not affect whatever the hell is in his system either.”

Fennec gave a half-hearted nod as she smoothed Din’s hair back, feeling the fever that was lurking somewhere in his head. He’d definitely gotten a bit warmer. She hated seeing him so sick and miserable and her heart ached as she remembered how he asked for his son. In the end, the foundling had his heart and there was room for little else.

“So, what’s the deal with you two?’ The medic asked casually as she bent over her vials and tubes, watching the clear liquids swirl together as she mixed them.

“Come again?”

“Why else would he want to see you and no one else?”

“He and I go way back,” Fennec shrugged off.

“Oh come now. You expect me to believe that?” The medic said. Her tone suggested teasing but Fennec bristled. Din had made it painfully clear that he didn’t want anyone to know about their relationship, whatever it might be. This medic was treading on sensitive ground.

She opened her mouth to say something but Din twitched in her arms and groaned as he started to surface. He grasped at her fingers and she took his hand into hers. “It’s alright Din.”

His eyes flickered open and he sucked in a shuddering breath before squeezing his eyes shut.

“Din? Are you in pain?”

“No,” he grunted out and forced his eyes open again. “It’s fine.”

“Din…”

“I’m fine,” he replied as firmly as he could manage.

There was a frantic knock at the door, interrupting further conversation and Fennec reluctantly extracted herself from the bed, carefully settling Din back on the mattress before walking to the door.

“I’ll get it,” she told the medic, who had started to get to her feet. “You’re still working.” Upon opening the door she came face to face with a very stern-looking Stours and Bo-Katan. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got trouble. We need to come in,” Stours said urgently.

Fennec blocked the door with her body. “That’s not going to happen. You have no idea what he went through last night.”

“And you don’t understand how important this is. The entire base is at risk!” Bo-Katan snarled and the two Mandalorians muscled past the assassin, barging their way into the hut.

“Apologies, Mand’alore but we’ve got trouble. An Imperial start fleet is heading this way. There are too many for our handful of ships to handle so we can’t take them out before they arrive,” Stours relayed.

“What about on the ground?” Din rasped as he pushed himself up in the bed with a sudden burst of energy. He was tapping into that secret reserve Fennec knew he possessed. Din was strong, stronger than most. Just when the average man would throw in the towel he pushed himself back up to toe the line. Even now as the poison ravaged his body, steadily weakening it, he somehow found the strength to carry on with his duties. Fennec knew he’d rather die than forsake what he’d been tasked to do.

“We would need to evacuate the base and prepare the troops. It’s difficult to say how many are arriving in the fleet.”

The tension hung heavy in the air as the two Mandalorians awaited Din’s thoughts and stratagems. Fennec stood by the table where the medic continued to work. This wasn’t the first time her doctoring had been interrupted by other members of the tribe seeking the Mand’alore’s advice and judging how Din had a habit of throwing himself into danger’s path, she doubted it would be the last.

“Sir, the base is starting to worry. You haven’t been seen and people are starting to notice,” Stours nudged.

“Stours,” Fennec warned.

“It’s alright Fennec.” Din chewed his lip for a moment. “Gather everyone into the assembly hall and wait for me.”

“Yes, Mand’alore,” Bo-Katan and Stours said, bowing their heads before leaving the hut to do as they were told. Fennec shot Din a shocked look.

“Din, you’re far too sick to-”

“I’m alright, Fennec. Go with the others. We don’t want anyone to get suspicious.” His tone was serious and unwavering as he swung his legs off the side of the bed.

Fennec wanted to argue with him, convince him that getting up and engaging in stressful situations such as the impending one would only cause the poison to course through his body faster. But as strong as Din was, he was just as stubborn. No amount of talking or arguing would change his mind and Fennec had no desire to be subject to his cold steel side. She’d already witnessed that back when they stood on different sides.

She nodded wordlessly and left the hut, heading for the direction of the assembly hall with the other Mandalorians.

****************

Fennec had gotten used to sitting on the right-hand side of a throne. She’d been doing it with Boba for months now. So it felt strange when she found herself in the crowd with everyone else at the foot of the throne. She wished she was standing beside Din along with Bo-Katan and Stours. But this was not her home, or her people, or her war. Din hadn’t claimed her as is and she did not get the privilege of standing beside him and he addressed his people.

The man in question was dressed head to toe in his armor. She had no idea how he’d found the energy and fortitude to get dressed but he had and was now sitting on his throne, flanked by his two most trusted advisors. To the untrained eye, nothing was out of the ordinary and Din appeared to be his usual self. But Fennec was an assassin. Her eye was trained to pick up on the slightest movements and gestures. It was how she read her victims and enemies. It was how she survived in her rough and lawless world. Her trained eye caught his chest that was heaving under his chest plate and his hands that trembled ever so slightly as he listened to the concerns of his clan.

“What do we do, Mand’alore? We have children and those who are unable to fight. We have nowhere to go and nowhere to hide,” an older woman exclaimed.

The empire will surely wipe us out!” Another voice somewhere behind Fennec cried out.

“Everyone! Everyone calm down! Now we’ll have none of this talk!” Stours bellowed and the room went silent.

“We are Mandalorians,” Bo-Katan rallied. “We fear nothing.”

“Bo-Katan is right. We have fought too hard and sacrificed too much to take back and rebuild what is ours. We aren’t going to let Moff Gideon wipe us out again,” Din replied. There was a slight wavering in his voice. “We will give them everything we have, and we will be a force to be reckoned with. The outpost we took will serve as a refuge for children and those who are unable to fight-” Din stopped for a moment and swallowed but Fennec caught the soft grunt that slipped past his modulator. No one else seemed to notice as they awaited his next instructions. “We need every able body to fight. We’ll be gravely outnumbered, but I like our odds. Now go and prepare.”

Din could feel the pain rapidly consuming his body and the nausea was churning in his stomach. Perhaps removing the IV was not a great idea, but he needed to rally for his people. They were counting on him to do so. His resolve was crumbling and he needed to get back to his bed. Turning to Bo-Katan and Stours, he summoned every last bit of his strength.

“Go. Oversee all of this. Make sure those who need to get to the outpost get there safely. Make sure everyone is armed and ready. We will fight this with everything we have.”

“Yes, Mand’alore,” Stours and Bo-Katan said in unison.

“Now go, swiftly,” Din gritted out and the two Mandalorians left, filing out with the others. Once they were gone, Din slumped in his throne, gasping and giving into the fire that was rushing through his blood. A few raspy groans pulled themselves from his throat and he clenched his gloved fists tightly.

Fennec had followed the flow of armored warriors out of the assembly hall and allowed Bo-Katan and Stours to march past her before she slipped back into the assembly hall. Her heart sank when she found Din slumped over panting heavily, clearly in a great amount of pain. Cautiously she approached him.

“Din?”

“N-need to get home,” he rasped. “Don’t want anyone to see me like this.”

“Alright. Alright. I’ll help you get back. Come on,” she said. Her tone was cold. She didn’t mean to, but he felt strange and distant from her. It was almost like it was before they’d slept together. Carefully he got to his feet and almost immediately his knees buckled and he started to go down.

“Fennec,” he whimpered as she quickly caught him.

“Shhhh. It’s alright Din.” Her voice was much softer and they started to stagger forward, slipping out a side exit.

“I’m sorry,” he said flatly as he stumbled alongside her back to his home.

Fennec felt a bit guilty. It wasn’t his fault that he suddenly had to be a leader to hundreds of strangers who really had no obligation to listen to him except for the fact that historically Mandalorians were traditionalists and believed every bit of the story of the dark saber. And as far as the two of them went, there had been no promises made. In reality, they were just two broken souls that had happened to collide one or two times in order to fill some void the both of them felt. It wasn’t serious and it wasn’t something to get upset over.

“Don’t be,” she soothed as they made it back to the hut and barged in. The medic was still there, waiting expectantly as if she knew the outcome of him leaving from the very beginning. “Think we’re going to need that painkiller now,” Fennec’s voice overlapped Din’s pained groan as she helped him to sit on the bed.

Gently, she pulled his helmet from his head, her heart sinking when she saw his face. The fever was spiking, causing his skin to be a sickly gray pallor and sweat-soaked. His usually bright eyes were dull and there were deep lines around his eyes and forehead suggesting the pain he was feeling was steadily ramping up.

“Get his armor off quickly,” the medic directed. Fennec had him undressed and lying down in nothing but his dark pants and undershirt in record time and swiftly the medic injected the painkiller into the vein in Din’s arm. She gathered him into her arms, feeling his body tremble as the heat rolled off him in waves. Within a few minutes, the tension let his face and he became boneless in her hold.

“There now. I bet that feels much better,” the medic said as she grabbed the IV tubing. “Let’s get you back on some fluids and then I want you to rest, Mand’alore. No more getting up and running yourself ragged,” she tutted as she manipulated his arm into a position suitable enough for her work.

Fennec cradled his head in the crook of her arm as she stroked his hair back. “Din?”

He grunted softly in reply and let his eyes crack open.

“Do you remember who you talked to and what you ate at the feast?”

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to remember. “Drank the ale from Stours. Koska and I tried some of the curry one of the elders made. I think I had another ale with Bo-Katan and Ax. I’m sure there were others but that’s what I remember directly. Why?”

“Someone poisoned you, Din. I’m not sure why but the truth of the matter is someone wants you dead and I’m just trying to figure out why.”

“They want the throne,” the medic interjected as she finished getting Din hooked up to fluids.

“But why go to all the trouble of poisoning him? If they were to attempt to claim the throne they would immediately be found guilty.”

“They were trying to mimic a virus. It’s possible they wanted it to look like he died of natural causes.”

“Din, who would the dark saber fall to if it isn’t won in combat?”

“It falls to my named successor or any offspring. This can be challenged and it can be won by another.”

“Have you named a successor?”

“Are you planning my funeral already?”

“No Din. Don’t even start speaking like that. We’re going to cure you of this, but if you already have a successor chosen that might provide us with a motive.”

“Bo-Katan was always supposed to be the successor. The people trust her and she would be a good leader.”

Fennec and the medic shot each other a look before Fennec turned back to Din. “Alright. Get some sleep now. Don’t worry about it anymore. You need to rest.”

“She didn’t do it,” Din rasped, already feeling the exhaustion pulling at him. “Bo-Katan is many things but she is not a murderer.”

“Alright Din. Alright. Just rest,” Fennec reassured.

“I’m going to take another blood sample so I can try and identify what this damn poison is. Don’t mind me. The painkiller is doing its job and he shouldn’t feel a thing.”

Fennec continued to cradle Din and soothe him while the medic worked. At last, Din’s breathing evened out and he dropped off into another desperate, deep sleep. Carefully, Fennec eased him out of her arms and got him settled comfortably before crawling out of the bed and tucking the blanket in around him. She made her way to the door.

“Where are you going?’ The medic asked as she finished extracting blood from Din’s body into a small tube.

“I need to get some supplies from my ship and let Boba know I’ll be staying a while longer,” she explained before leaving the hut.

***************

Fennec signed off on her hologram projector. She’d just wrapped up her conversation with Boba, filling him in on all that happened. He’d been just as perplexed as she was and had warned her to exercise caution. The rest of her supplies was gathered into a pack and her ship was once more locked down as she left.

Thoughts and fears tumbled over in her mind. As of now, all signs of guilt pointed at Bo-Katan. She’d shown obvious disdain for Din since he first arrived with the dark saber. She could kid herself all day long but in the end, the power was what she cared about, not him. And given that the throne fell to her if he died, that would give her plenty of motive. And yet, it all seemed too obvious. Bo-Katan made no show of sucking up to the Mand’alore. Surely she would know if something tragic and untimely were to befall Din her constant lack of respect would make her an easy candidate for the one responsible? There was something was wrong. She was missing a piece of the puzzle.

A high-pitched whizzing sound pierced the air followed by a spasm of white-hot pain. For a moment the air was knocked out of her lungs as the fire spread from a pinpoint on the outside of her upper thigh and radiated throughout her leg. Looking down she saw the blood slowly soak her pant leg and a horrifying realization dawned on her. _I’ve been shot_.

Quickly she looked around for the culprit but there was no one to be seen. There was another high-pitched whizzing sound and another shot struck the ground inches from her feet. _Sniper_. There were some tall cliffs a good distance away from where she stood. The shots must be coming from there. She was unarmed and wore no protective armor, so her next solution was to run, ignoring the tearing pain in her leg. More shots whizzed past until she must have darted out of her sniper’s range. However, she didn’t stop running until she reached the entrance to the base where the same scouts who’d met her when she first arrived stood guard.

The wound was overtaking every nerve in her damaged leg and the muscles failed her, sending her sprawling at the scouts’ feet.

“Miss Shand?” One of them queried.

“There’s a sniper out there somewhere,” Fennec gritted out through clenched teeth.

“Diaz, take her to the medic immediately and alert the Mand’alore.”

“Yes sir,” Diaz replied as he gently helped Fennec to her feet, encouraging her to lean on him and take the weight off of her wounded leg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! As always please rate and review. It always makes the authors smile when you do :)


	5. Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More clues reveal themselves and Cara becomes acquainted with a fellow citizen of Alderan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! I am so sorry it took so long to update. Work is destroying me and then I had a very bad bout of seasonal depression. I hope this chapter was well worth the wait. Enjoy!

It was controlled chaos as Diaz burst into Din’s hut with Fennec limping beside him. The medic, who had been sitting beside Din’s bed jumped up at the sudden intrusion. Din flinched violently in his half-unconscious state.

“You’re needed,” Diaz stated matter-of-factly as he carefully eased Fennec into her chair beside the bed. 

“Shit,” the Medic breathed as she got up and moved to Fennec’s side. “What happened?”

“Sniper,” Fennec gritted out.

The medic did a preemptive inspection of the wound, looking for any immediate signs of danger. “Ok. The good news is it’s not serious. The shot just grazed your thigh, with no damage to your artery. Hang tight,” the medic said as she pressed a clean cloth from her bag to the wound. Fennec wasn’t prepared for the intense fire that consumed her upper thigh and she let out a sharp yelp.

Din bolted upright immediately, his eyes wild with fear as he looked around with a feverish gaze before finally settling on Fennec. She could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to sort out the reality that was before him. Then, as if a switch flipped his eyes focused.

“Fennec? What happened?”

“It’s alright, Din. I’m alright,” she said in a tight voice as she pressed the cloth to her leg so the medic could get the supplies she needed to stitch the wound closed.

“No you’re not,” he insisted weakly as he summoned a strength that was far beyond the reaches of his own, the kind that surfaced when someone he cared about needed him. “What happened?”

“Th-there was a sniper just outside the base.”

“Probably Empire,” the medic replied as she brought her bag and pulled out her sewing kit so that she could thread her needle.

Din moved further up in the bed so that he was sitting as close to Fennec as possible and he shook his head. “If that was the case they’d been looking for Mandalorians. Fennec’s not wearing any armor. They were aiming for her.”

“Alright, Miss Shand. Hang tight. This is going to sting a bit,” the medic warned as she grabbed an alcohol wipe from the package in her bag and swabbed the area. Fennec tensed and sucked in a sharp breath between her teeth. She felt Din take her hand into hers' and she tightened her grip.

“Remember when you found me bleeding out in my ship and you had to patch me up?” He asked. It was his turn to distract her from pain.

“Yeah,” she panted out. “You-you were such a baby.” Her eyes screwed up tightly as the medic started to stitch the wound.

“Look who’s talking,” Din teased but when Fennec peeled her eyes open to look at him she saw the deep look of concern in his eyes as he brought her hand to his lips for a moment before settling it back on the bed.

“There we go!” The medic announced as she finished stitching and grabbed a fresh Bacta patch. “The Bacta will help heal the wound but you’ll need to rest for a few hours.”

Fennec nodded as she climbed into the bed, trying to keep the pressure off of her bum leg. The adrenaline was rapidly dwindling and her body’s response was to shut down as weariness settled deep in her bones.

“Do I need to stay?” The medic asked anxiously. “I’ve got to get back to my labs.”

“You’re good. This isn’t my first time getting shot and this is honestly the best I’ve ever been treated for it so I’m confident it will be healed in a few hours,” Fennec reassured tiredly as she laid down beside Din.

“Alright. I’ll leave you two be. If you need anything just give me a shout. He should be good on his IV for a bit and the pain injections are on the counter if you need them.”

“Thank you,” Fennec replied, her eyes already closed. She heard footsteps fading away from the bed, the door open and then close before she peeled her eyes open again. Din was settling in the bed beside her, a pained grimace on his pale face. “Looks like someone wants us both dead.”

“Y-yeah,” Din rasped out, the extra reserve of strength was long gone and making him feel weak and sick in its wake. “Who knows about us?”

“What?”

“They were targeting you because you’re close to me. Whoever is doing this knows I care about you.”

“You care about me?”

Din peeled his eyes open, his brown ones piercing hers deeply. “Fennec, you’ve always known I cared about you since that night. I was yours from the moment I took my helmet off.”

Fennec rested her hand against his cheek and stroked it gently. She couldn’t believe he was saying these things to her. “Our world is a dangerous one. We have to protect what little good you and I can find in it.”

He rested his hand against the one she held to his face, his fingers curling gently around it. “My _ge’tal_ ,” he murmured softly.

“What does that mean?”

“Red. Every time I see red, I think of you. You’re my red.”

Fennec smirked at him. “You’re delirious, Din. The fever’s got you all twisted. Of course you think of me when you see red. I was an assassin. I’ve done terrible things. I’m a monster to many.”

Din’s grip tightened around her hand a little as he shook his head weakly. “Not to me. You are not a _demagolka_ (monster) _._ You are _cuyan_ (a survivor). _Mesh'la_ (beautiful). D _ral_ (powerful). _Ge’tal._ ”

Fennec’s hand moved from his cheek to his forehead as she felt the fever that had definitely risen from the low-grade range it had been hovering at to something more concerning. These were clearly nonsense words from a delirious man. Suddenly, a realization dawned on her as she sat up.

“Din, you still with me?”

“Never left,” he rasped back in a confused voice.

“The medic. She-she asked if something was going on between us. Din, she’s been sticking you with needles since you started getting sick. She could be the one who poisoned you and she got someone to try and kill me to get to you.”

“She has nothing to gain out of this. She swore to help heal and nurse our people. She would never act so dishonorably. Please, _ge’tal_. You need to rest so your leg can heal.”

She could hear the exhaustion in his voice so she laid down beside him again. “Is that my nickname now?”

“Need to pay you back for Tin Can and Metal Man,” Din teased tiredly as he wrapped his arm around her and nuzzled his face into her shoulder. Within minutes the Mandalorian and injured assassin were sound asleep.

***************

Din’s eyes flickered open as a strange, faint ringing started up in his ears. It wasn’t loud, just barely loud enough to get his attention and it was persistent. Din squeezed his eyes shut, trying to go back to sleep. As soon as he dropped off the ringing would disappear and everything would be alright. It was just a by-product of the fever.

******************

A pained cry pulled Fennec out of sleep and instantly she was sitting up and on high alert. “Din? Hey, Din easy. What’s wrong?”

Fennec felt an overbearing panic fill her stomach as Din sat up and buried his head in his hands and grabbed handfuls of his disheveled locks like he was trying to rip them out. Ragged breaths punched from his chest.

“Make it stop. Make it stop!” He cried out.

“Make what stop?” She took his hands away from his hair gently and cupped his face in her hands, searching for any source of the intense pain he was feeling.

“R-ringing in m-my ears. Won’t stop. Please make it stop.” His hands fisted themselves into the cloth of her tunic and he clung to her desperately. His eyes were bloodshot and she wondered how long she’d been out.

“How long has this been going on?”

“Hours. Fucking hours Fennec, please. Please make it stop please!” Din was begging. Din had never begged for anything in his life. But this was not Din. This was not the Din she knew. This was the shell of a dying man who was on the brink of losing his mind. His eyes were wild with fear as he gripped his head and cried out again.

“Please. Please I’ll do-do anything. _Gedet'ye gotal'ur bic Gev_. _Gedet'ye gotal'ur bic Gev_!” (Please make it stop!)

Fennec cursed that she knew no Mando’a except the few words he’d taught her briefly. “Din. Hey, Din look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Just breathe. Breathe for me Din.” She held the sides of his head in her hands, wishing she could will the pain away from his brain. His skin felt like it was on fire.

 _“Ge’tal_ ,” he whimpered as he panted through a hoarse groan.

“Yes. It’s me. I’m right here. Don’t focus on the ringing. Focus on my voice.”

“Grogu?”

“Cara went to fetch him. She’ll be back with your son soon.”

“I was quested to bring him to the Jedi.”

“I know Din. I know,” she said as she smoothed down his disheveled hair.

“I don’t want to. I’m not ready. Don’t want to let him go. Don’t want to be alone.” It felt like Fennec’s chest was splitting in two as she watched this stoic and strong warrior break down in her hands. He was unraveling.”

“You’re not alone, Din. You’re not alone. I promise you. I’m here. Grogu will be here soon. You’re not alone.”

“ _Ge’tal_ ,” he whimpered again as he panted and slumped forward so he was leaning against her. She held him tightly in her arms, listening as he pressed pained groans against her skin. She was deeply concerned about how his breath had taken on a wheezy quality and sounded like it was rattling in his lungs but they wouldn’t worry about it for now. As long as she could feel his breaths skate across her skin at a consistent albeit slightly elevated pace she was satisfied.

“I’ve got you, Din. I won’t let you go.”

****************

Cara took a deep breath as she started for the impressive temple that had taken a good bit of research to track down. She vaguely remembered a name, a former Alderaan resident. Of course, she was the princess then, but Cara remembered feeling relieved to find out that there was someone else from her homeland fighting for the rebels, even if she would never have the privilege of meeting her. After more digging, she discovered that the Jedi, Luke Skywalker, who had taken Grogu was her twin brother. If anyone would know where he was, it would be her. After some more research through the New Republic’s databases, she discovered that the Aldrerranian, The Princess Leia Organa herself, was residing on Batuu so Cara had made a mad dash there in hopes that she would be able to find the Jedi.

She was met at the door by a servant. Cara showed her the issued Marshal’s badge and inquired if Princess Leia Organa lived there. The servant nodded.

“I would like to speak with her on official New Republic business, and as a fellow citizen of Alderaan.”

The servant bowed and backed away inside. In a few minutes, the servant returned. “Right this way.

Cara was lead through pristine stone hallways to a courtyard filled with beautiful and aromatic flowers. A woman, dressed in a flowing white dress bent over a thick rose bush while a dark-haired toddler played at her feet. She was definitely from Alderaan. The braids in her hair confirmed this.

“Cara Dune, of the Rangers of the New Republic. How nice of you to visit. I have heard so much of your brave deeds during the war,” Leia said with a warm smile as she turned to face the Marshal.

“It’s a pleasure. It’s nice to meet another from home.”

“Yes. I was told you too came from Alderaan. Now, what brings you here? News of the New Republic?”

“Actually I am here looking for your brother. About a year ago, he took a child into his care. A little green baby with long ears.”

“Ah yes, Grogu. Such a fast learner. He’s done well in his training.”

“His father, the Mandalorian. He’s sick, maybe dying. He’s begging for his son, the Child, and I have come to fetch him.”

Leia’s smile disappeared at this grave news. “My brother is teaching his students in the temple on the mountain. We will start making our way there immediately.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! and I appreciate you being patient with me and continuing to support my work. It means more to me than you will ever know. Stay tuned for more and please rate and review!


	6. Dawn of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War dawns on Mandalore and the killer is revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, lovelies! Back with another chapter. This story is rapidly coming to an end! I hope you enjoy!

“Din? Can you hear me?” Fennec called gently as she stroked the unconscious man’s cheek with her thumb, trying not to disturb the oxygen mask attached to his face. He didn’t so much as stir and Fennec had to blink rapidly to avoid tearing up. His skin looked almost white in the early glow of the Mandalore dawn. Her eyes burned with exhaustion and the events of the past few hours returned to her in blurred pieces…

_Din cried out in agony before he was retching into the bowl for the second time in the last hour. Fennec didn’t have to look to know he was throwing up blood. There was nothing left in his body to expel, so instead, it turned to getting rid of the valuable liquid keeping it going._

_“It’s alright Din. You’re alight. It’s alright.”_

The pain and seizures had started next…

_“Fennec. S-something’s burning,” Din had rasped before a pained groan tore from his lips._

_She smelled the air for a moment and frowned. “I don’t smell anything. Are you sure?”_

_“S-something’s burning.” His eyes suddenly grew wide with fear. “F-Fennec!” His whole body went rigid and violent seizures wracked his body. A horrible choking sound filled her ears as she carefully rolled him onto his side. She tried to soothe him as he rode out the convulsions but he was no longer aware of her presence._

Fennec had taken all of these horrible things without so much as batting an eye until Din started having severe breathing problems…

_“C-can-can’t…b-br…” Din couldn’t even draw in enough air to finish the words and his lips were starting to take on a bluish tinge._

_“Hey! Din, Din you need to breathe. Please, please breathe for me Din. Just slow down, relax, and take some breaths.” Fennec felt the panic rising in her._

_Din shook his head, his eyes full of panic as he grabbed her hand in his shaky one and forced out a faint “please”._

_  
“Hang on Din. Just hang on. Let me get the medic. You stay with me alright. Stay with me, Din please.”_

That had been a few hours ago. The medic had raced immediately to the hut with supplies to stabilize him. Now he was cold and unconscious. He hadn’t so much as flinched. Despite all of these horrible things happening nothing filled Fennec with a sickening sense of hopelessness like the medic’s news that was dropped after Din had been stabilized.

_“I’m-I’m afraid I have some bad news.”_

_Fennec felt her heart drop into her stomach. It was as if she already knew. “There’s nothing you can do is there?”_

_“The poison I was able to identify has no known antidote. There’s-there’s nothing I can do but try and keep him comfortable, maybe find out who did this.”_

Fennec hadn’t cried then. She refused to cry in front of this woman. But now that she was alone, she let herself cry. She sobbed out her fears, anxiety, and grief that had been pent up over the last few days. Gathering Din’s limp body in her arms, she let the sobs yank themselves from her body.

“I’m so sorry, Din. I’m so so sorry I couldn’t fix this.”

She found herself running her hands through his hair and down the sides of his face around the mask as if trying to memorize his features. She remembered doing this the night they slept together. He’d taken her hand so gently and let her feel his face. It had been their secret world, their secret night. It had been something both of them had fought to protect. She’d give anything to kiss his lips now, to hear him speak again even if it was just to call her by his self-appointed nickname.

“ _Get’al,”_ she murmured as she kissed his forehead and eased him back to the mattress. With a weary sigh, she got up and moved to the kitchen to make some tea.

Everything felt heavy like it was moving in slow motion, but Din’s life was slipping away right in front of her faster and faster. Tears were threatening to spill over again but a frantic pounding on the door jerked her out of it. Din flinched violently, the sound loud enough to breach the barrier of his unconsciousness. It was the first movement he’d made since his condition deteriorated. Fennec ran to the door and flung it open. Stours and Bo-Katan were standing there, fully armored with their helmets under their arms. There was a loud commotion behind them.

“They’re here. The Empire is here,” Stours announced gravely. “We need the Mand’alore.”

Fennec shook her head. “He won’t be joining you. You’ll have to fight without him.”

“Bullshit!” Bo-Katan fumed as she shoved Fennec out of the way. The assassin’s blood boiled as the two warriors forced themselves into the hut. They stopped short, however, when they saw the condition Din was in.

“See?” Fennec snarled, trying not to cry. “He’s dying. Din is dying because of someone in this god-forsaken base and all you care about is your honor and your creed!” 

“Our honor and creed is something you couldn’t even begin to understand. The Mand’alore knows this. A real Mand’alore would get up and fight,” Stours replied, his typical jolly demeanor had long since vanished. “A _real_ Mand’alore wouldn’t abandon his people!”

“He doesn’t even remember his own name at this point! He can’t possibly fight.”

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Bo-Katan accused harshly as her eyes narrowed at Fennec in hatred. “I know your little clone leader. He worked for the Empire. He’s trying to weaken our people and take the throne for himself so you came to do his dirty work. You poisoned our Mand’alore and threatened our home!”

“Boba doesn’t give a shit about your fucking throne,” Fennec hissed back. “What about you? Din said you were his successor if he died of natural causes. _You_ poisoned him so that the throne would fall to you.”

“You lying bitch!” Bo-Katan was in a full rage now and both women were poised to spring at each other.

“That’s enough!”

Fennec’s head snapped to the bed where Din was pushing himself into a slumped sitting position with the oxygen mask hanging around his neck. His chest heaved with his heavy, desperate breaths and sweat rolled down his face in rivers.

“Din! Hey, easy Din. Easy,” Fennec soothed as she moved to help him sit up.

“Sir. It’s the Empire. They’re here,” Stours interrupted, seemingly unfazed by Din’s condition.

“What do you want us to do?” Bo-Katan urged.

Din gripped onto Fennec’s arm and took in a weak breath. “Go. Prepare to defend our home. You two will lead our warriors. Protect everything we’ve fought so hard for.” His voice was strained and raspy.

Stours and Bo-Katan looked dumbfounded for a moment before they saluted their king. “We will, Mand’alore. We will defend our home,” Stours reassured before he jammed his helmet on. Bo-Katan did the same and the two warriors filed out of the hut to prepare for war.

“Fennec,” Din gasped, battling to stay upright as he clung to her.

“Yes, Din?”

“I need you to do something for me.”

“Yes?”

“I need you to help me put my armor on one last time.”

***************

Cara and Leia rushed up to the twisty mountain path and arrived at a clearing where a beautiful, stone temple stood before them. If the situation wasn’t so dire Cara would find herself breathless by its beautiful but time was of the essence. At the end of a courtyard, she spotted a familiar man in black standing in front of a group of small children in brown and cream-colored robes. A familiar green face was among them.

“Luke!” Leia called and the blond-haired Jedi turned to face his sister.

“Hang on children,” Luke said to his students before jogging to his sister’s side. “Everything alright? Ah, Cara Dune. It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“I would love to chat but I’m rather pressed for time,” Cara said urgently. “The Mandalorian, the man who’s foundling you took. He’s sick and dying. The kid needs to see him.”

Luke listened with rapt attention and nodded. “Normally I wouldn’t permit my students to entertain such attachments but I understand their situation is different. By all means. Take the child to his father and he can return when he’s ready.”

“Thank you,” Cara said gratefully before jogging up to the group of students. Grogu recognized her instantly and squealed with delight as he reached up his hands for her to pick him up. “Hey, kid. Yeah, it’s good to see you too. Come on. We’re going to see your dad,” she said, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. It was better not to upset the kid right now. There would be time for grief and mourning later.

****************

Fennec blinked at Din, unsure if she’d heard him right. “What?”

“Please. Help me put my armor on.”

“What for, Din?”

“I have a duty to fulfill. I’m going to fight with my people.”

“Are you crazy? You had seizures and you couldn’t breathe, Din. You’re in no condition to fight right now. Come on. You’re talking nonsense. Just lay back and rest ok? You need to rest.”

“Rest is pointless now, Fennec. I need to get up.” It was a struggle just to get the words out through grunts of pain.

“You’re going to push the poison through your body faster. Don’t you want to give yourself a fighting chance?”

Din gave her a sad smile. “I’m dying, Fennec. I know I am. I-I need to do this last thing before I go.”

Fennec tried to suppress a sob as tears started to run down her face. “Then let’s just go away from here. I’ll take you back to my ship and we can just shut the world out. It can be just you andme.”

He reached up and cupped her cheek, stroking her skin with his thumb and brushing away the tears rolling down her face. “I want nothing more than to spend my last moments alone with you _Ge’tal_. I wish,” he paused and sucked in a weak breath that ended in a soft moan. “I wish we had more time.”

“I wish we did too,” she sniffed.

“This was my duty. This is what I was quested to do.” Fennec closed her eyes at his words. He was right. She knew he was. Din Djarin wouldn’t quit until he’d seen a mission through, even if that meant putting his own life on the line. She just wished she didn’t have to witness him kill himself for the sake of duty.

“Alright, Din. I’ll help you. But on one condition, you let me fight alongside you. I’m in this with you every step of the way.” 

Din swallowed back a groan and nodded. “Alright, _Ge’tal_. You drive a hard bargain.”

Fennec gave him a small chuckle through her tears before she moved out of his touch and helped him to sit upon the edge of the bed before going to where his armor and helmet were being stored.

“Did-did you bring your armor?”

“Yes. It’s in my bag. Diaz retrieved it after he brought me here,” she replied as she gathered the pieces of his armor and brought them to the bed.

“Did they ever find out who the sniper was?” Din asked as he removed the IV and took the mask off from around his neck. He knew he would be operating on borrowed time from now on and he was going to make the most of it.

“Some troops went out to the ridge where the shots were coming from. They just found some scuff marks. Whoever did it covered their tracks pretty well.”

Din nodded as he started to put his armor on. He got everything from the waist down on before he sat up and sucked in a sharp breath. His arm wrapped around his middle as he grunted hoarsely.

“Din?” Fennec urged as she put a hand on his shoulder. Worry was tying knots in her stomach.

“I’m alright,” he reassured as he reached for his chest plate to put it on.

Twenty minutes later Din was fully armored sans his helmet and ready to go. Pushing himself up on weak, shaky legs he stumbled a bit and squeezed his eyes shut as everything spun. There was a gentle hand on his arm and he forced his eyes open, coming face to face with Fennec. He wordlessly gave her hand a reassuring pat and took a couple of tentative steps, feeling his strength growing as he walked to the locker on the far end of the wall. Opening it, his eyes held contact with the symbol of his responsibilities. The dark saber was hung neatly and Din grabbed it. He would wield this weapon one more time and defend the only identity and family he’d ever known. He would die knowing he’d done everything he could as their Mand’alore.

“Ready Din?” Fennec asked and he turned to look at her. She was laced up and ready to go. Her sniper rifle was strapped to her back and she had her helmet under her arm.

“Yeah,” he replied.

Before they could leave the hut the medic burst in. “Sir! I think I’ve found out who did this! The poison samples I was able to isolate contained traces of ne’tra. There is only one person we know who drinks ale that strong. Wait, where are you going?”

Din walked up to her and patted her hand. “Thank you for all you’ve done. None of it matters now. It’s too late for me. I’m going to fight with my people.”

The medic was dumbfounded as she watched the pair leave the hut.

***************

“Are the north squadrons in position?” Bo-Katan asked Stours.

“Yes, Ma’am. We’re ready.”

“We are now.”

Stours and Bo-Katan turned to see Din and Fennec making their way to their position.

“Mand’alore! I didn’t think you would be coming,” Stours said as he allowed Din to pass.

“It’s what a real Mand’alore would do,” Din said in a seething voice before turning back to Fennec. He could hear the sounds of AT-ATs in the distance and knew he would fight to his last breath for this planet and his people.

“I’m right beside you, Din,” Fennec reassured beside him.

“I know.” Without warning he leaned in and kissed her deeply, not caring that Bo-Katan and Stours were there. He was tired of pretending. He was tired of keeping it a secret. “Until my dying breath and beyond, I was always yours, _Ge’tal,_ ” he murmured to her. She closed her eyes for a moment as the tears welled up and nodded before pulling from his embrace and putting her helmet on. He put his on and ignited the dark saber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Drop your suspects in the comments and as always, please rate and review!


	7. The Hourglass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time is rapidly running out for Din as the battle heats up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! I cannot express enough how thankful I am for your patience. Been dealing with some health things and then of course work has been brutal. I hope this chapter was well worth the wait. I have appreciated every bit of support and love. I hope you enjoy this new update!

Din paused his slashing and forced himself to take in a shaky breath. He’d had to do that a lot and it was irritating him. His body was a machine that he’d spent half a life time taking care of and protecting and it was failing him from the inside. He could feel his heart trying to pound its way out of his chest as his insides smoldered and sweat pooled in his armor.

 _Focus. You have to finish this. You have to end this before it’s too late_.

He shook the clouds from his brain and cut down two more stormtroopers who came barreling at him before glancing over to his left. Fennec fired off a few shots from her rifle, hitting several troopers from the back of the attacking squadron before swiftly and seamlessly reloading. If she noticed every time he stopped to catch his breath or double over in pain she didn’t show it.

“Mand’alore!” Stours voice billowed over the commlink embedded in his helmet.

“Here, Stours,” Din called over the blaster fire as he deflected a few shots back at their owners.

“AT-ATs approaching. We probably have twenty minutes before they arrive.”

“Deploy the trenchers. Have them cut straight across the river bed. We’ll cut them off there,” Din directed.

“Copy that, Mand’alore,” Stours replied before cutting off.

The riverbed, of course, had been dried up for decades but Din had experience taking down these formidable armored vehicles before and it would be the perfect place to deploy his fine-tuned strategy.

_Sorgan. Explosions rocketing through the night over the shouts of visitors. The smell of oil and fire was strong in his nose. Take it out. Take it down before it reached the village. Take it down. The bounty hunter’s coming. Leave the kid here. Get the kid out of here. Not safe. Not safe. Not safe here. Not safe anywhere. Real backwater skug hole._

Din shook his head and the krill ponds and lush, rolling hills gave away to the barren and razed terrain of Mandalore. Hallucinations. That couldn't be good. He was running out of time. He could feel the strength rapidly leaving his body. A stray blaster shot struck him in the pauldron with enough force to knock him on his feet. The impact of him hitting the ground must have upset something in the delicate environment of his decaying body because a vicious pain ripped through him and he couldn't stop the pained cry that escaped his lips.

“Din!” Fennec cried as she fired off a few shots and knelt beside him.

“I’m alright. I’m alright. Just got knocked down,” Din grunted as he tried to push himself up. He got as far as a crouch before the dizziness overtook him and he had to pause. He felt Fennec’s arm on his shoulder.

“Just take a breath, Din, and then get up. I’m right here with you.”

Din nodded and sucked in a tight breath when he spotted two troopers headed towards them with e-webs. The adrenalin overtook him and he lunged up, slicing through both of them and watching their severed bodies collapse into the dirt.

“I’m up Fennec. Let’s keep moving,” he reassured her as the pair plunged further into the battlefield. They needed to get to the riverbed.

Fennec had never been in battle before. Her life was full of silent, solo work. Get in, do the deed, and get out with as little interference as possible. There were no partners, no squadrons, no teamwork. So to say that she was out of her element in war was an understatement. And yet, there was something so natural about fighting alongside Din. Their movements were fluid and seamless as rifle and dark saber cut down enemy after enemy. Fennec would fire at oncoming troopers, protecting Din’s blind spot before they would swap and Din would shield her body from blaster shots with his armor. Shoot. Block. Slash. Repeat. It was becoming second nature until Din cried out and dropped to his knees panting and groaning. They were almost to the riverbed.

Din thought Fennec was at his side again, asking him if he was ok but the ringing in his ears was almost deafening now. It was drowning out everything around him. Armored Mandalorians rushed past him. He looked up, blinked, and found himself surrounded by the burning buildings of Aq Vetina. Smoke filled the air, choking him, and screams cut through the ringing. A crushing sense of dread filled his very soul. His parents, they were here somewhere trying to escape the explosions and blaster fire. He had to get up and get to the river. Dig the trenches. Destroy the AT-AT. It was the only way to stop this. He tried to stand and take a few steps but he collapsed again, crying out and panting.

“Din stop!” Fennec yelled, grabbing him firmly by the arm and keeping him on the ground. Reaching over, he pressed the distress button on his bracer that would summon the medic. Each Mandalorian on base had their armor modified with this feature so that their exact location could be pinged to medics and doctors on the battlefield. It had saved many lives and Fennec was thankful for it more than ever now as she waited for the medic to arrive. Din wheezed and grasped Fennec’s shoulder with a shaky hand.

“Fennec, I want you to promise me something. Promise me you will not pull me from this battlefield-“ he had to pause and suck in as deep a breath as he could manage, “until this fight is over. I am a warrior and the Mand’alore and it is my duty to fight here. Promise me that you will let me have a warrior’s death. Promise me!”

Fennec could feel dampness on her cheeks and she was thankful for her helmet’s visor. She gave Din a nod. “I promise, Din. I will honor what you’ve asked.”

The words made her sick. The thought of Din’s final moments in this universe being surrounded by war, death, and betrayal filled with nausea. She’d wanted to make him happy. She’d wanted his final moments to be something lovely and beautiful. A man who had suffered a lifetime of sadness, grief, and trauma deserved peace and quiet. She wanted to take him away from the pain, away from the base where his killer was hiding under the guise of a trusted friend. She thought it would be nice to go back to her ship and hold him in her arms, making sure he was comfortable and felt safe. Making sure he left this life knowing that someone cared about him. She’d kiss him, and maybe work up the nerve to tell him that she cared for him. He confessed he cared about her and now she was regretting not being able to vocalize those feelings back to him. The truth was that she did care for him deeply. It never was supposed to be this way. They’d slept together because they’d just needed something to fill the void. It was never her intention to feel so connected to someone.

“Sir, you need to come off the field.” The medic’s voice jerked Fennec from her thoughts and she saw the white-clad Mandalorian kneeling beside Din.

“No! J-just give me a stimulant,” Din panted.

“Sir that’s just going to increase your heart rate and pump the poison faster.”

“Gotta stop these AT-ATs before they cross the river. Give it to me now! It’ll keep me going a little longer.”

“Mand’alore, we’ve got trouble.” Now it was Bo-Katan’s voice cutting through the ringing in his ears over the intercom. “Dark Troopers just landed. Maybe twenty or thirty of them.”

“I’m on my way. Pull back. Don’t sacrifice our warriors,” Din replied before his dark visor snapped in the direction of the medic.

“Give me the fucking stimulant now!” His voice was harsh and barking. Fennec had never heard that tone leave his lips before and without another moment of hesitation, the medic reached into her bag and pulled out a container of stimulants. Her movements were swift as she withdrew one, pulled off the protective plastic covering, and shifted Din’s cowl away from his neck so that she could plunge it into his jugular and release the contents.Din groaned and forced a few tight breaths as his fingers grasped at the dirt beneath him.

“There. That should kick in and you’ll feel a nice high for an hour or so,” the medic replied briskly as she helped Din to his feet.

“Thank you,” he replied before turning to Fennec. He was already feeling the effects of the stim injection working. “Let’s get moving.”

“Right behind you,” Fennec replied as the couple jogged off in the direction of Bo-Katan’s location.

****************

“Pull back! Pull back!” Bo-Katan cried to the warriors surrounding her as the line of dark troopers grew closer and closer. She’d already lost five in her squadron to their blasters and she refused to lose anymore.

“Bo-Katan, do you need back up?” Stours’ voice queried over her helmet’s commlink.

“The Mand’alore will be here. Hold your post. Get those trenches dug,” Bo-Katan replied as she pulled a charge from her belt, activated it, and threw it at the oncoming dark troopers. That would by no means destroy them but it bought them a little more time.

“I’ll beat the Mand’alore there. I’ll make quick work of those troopers.”

“Stand your ground, General! The Mand’alore gave orders now follow them,” Bo-Katan hissed.

Her feelings about Din and his qualifications were what they were. No one would ever change her mind about that. But first and foremost she was a soldier, and to suggest violation against a direct order by a superior was deplorable to her. Stours was skirting a dangerous line, something she’d never seen him do. The dark troopers were getting closer and her squadron was getting pinned. Even if she ordered a full-scale retreat the mechanical beings were much faster and would cut down every last soldier before they had a chance to run.

“Where the fuck are you Din?” Bo-Katan called into the commlink as she threw more charges at the oncoming troopers, hoping her informal use of his real name would help him see the gravity of their situation.

“Right behind you.” Bo-Katan whipped around and saw Din rushing up behind her and then past her towards the line of droids. Fennec jogged to catch up and stopped beside Bo-Katan and the two women watched as Din continued to charge.

“He’s insane,” Bo-Katan commented as she shook her head.

“Well, it’s gotten him this far,” Fennec replied.

******************

Din charged at the dark troopers, igniting the dark saber. He’d witnessed the power a weapon like this wielded on Moff Gideon’s ship. He’d seen how the Jedi cut through these armored juggernauts like they were made of cloth with his weapon. Din felt confident he could do so now. Summoning every ounce of his strength, Din focused his mind and his bounding heart on the dark wall ahead and with a mighty battle cry, plunged into the fray.

Din could feel blaster shots bounce harmlessly off his helmet and armor. It was amusing to him that these brainless droids couldn’t realize that blasters would be useless against beskar. He could feel their mechanical hands attempt to grab him but Din swung the dark saber around, severing limbs from metal frames and splitting mechanized bodies into pieces. If he could just keep fighting, keep holding himself together and deal with this threat, his tiny army might have a fighting chance. The ringing in his ears was almost deafening and nausea was churning somewhere in his stomach as pain radiated through every nerve in his body but he forced it away, as he gritted his teeth and slashed through more dark troopers.

“Papa?”

Din turned, half expecting to see his tiny green son standing behind him. That had been a habit that developed in the months he and Grogu had traveled together. The toddler had a terrible habit of wanting to be right underfoot lest he missed out on something exciting and interesting. Several times Din had come close to stepping on his son so he made it a point to check around him before moving to avoid injuring Grogu. The habit never died and in the year since his son had been taken away to train Din would catch himself checking around his feet in search of the child.

The child, of course, wasn’t here. It was just his poisoned mind playing tricks on him. However, the brief moment he let his guard down was just enough for a dark trooper to swing and hit him square in the chest, knocking him off his feet and onto his back. He cried out in agony. If he thought the “life passing before your eyes” moment was a myth his mind was very much changed as bits and pieces of his life danced in his mind. His real parents, his smoldering home, his adopted father, his life in the Mandalorian covert, finding Grogu, his nights with Fennec, watching the Jedi take his son, the only thing he’d ever truly loved in his universe away. It was happening so fast he could barely breathe and for a moment he couldn’t find the fight inside himself. He was dying. It seemed like as good a time as any to give up the fight.

Except he wasn’t the kind of man to give in.

Din swung the dark saber and slashed at the troopers who were charging him, cutting them down, and pushed himself to his feet. He couldn’t give up and he wouldn’t give in. His people were counting on him to end this battle and save their home. He was their king, their Mand’alore, their leader. He wasn’t going out without a fight, and he sure as hell was going to go out on his own terms, not by the hands of some droids. Din continued to slash and block until the last dark trooper fell at his feet.

“Bo-Katan, have your troops move in now. We can take this. We can end it.”

“Yes, Mand’alore,” Bo-Katan replied before she was yelling at her troops to move forward and retake the ground they’d lost.

“Stours? What’s the status at the river bed?” Din rasped out. The nausea was churning and the pain was becoming almost too much to bear. It felt like he couldn’t breathe and the panting he’d whipped up from fighting wasn’t helping.

“Trenches are dug, Mand’alore. AT-ATs are on their way. T-minus five minutes.”

“I’m coming. Be there-“ A ragged breath cut him off and he had just enough time to lift his helmet before a mess of bloody vomit shot up from his stomach. He couldn’t mask his anguished cries as the pain was enough to make him see stars. This was it. This was the end. It had to be because this was the worst pain he’d ever experienced in his entire life. It was ripping apart his intestines and burning him from the inside out. Tears were streaming down his face as he let the helmet slide back onto his face and he collapsed on his knees.

_Pain. Burning. Ringing. It’s too much. Please stop! Don’t leave me! Please ad’ika. Please don’t go! I don’t want to die alone. Please! Please. Fennec. She’s shot. Someone shot her. Help. Help me, please. I don’t want to be alone. HELP!_

There were arms around him, holding his broken body. Then his helmet was being pulled off and he was looking into her dark eyes. The world disappeared around him and it was just to the two of them.

“Fennec…”

“Are you alright Din?”

He couldn’t find the breath to answer her. Honestly, he was afraid to because the nausea was still churning and the thought of throwing up again made tears well up in his eyes. All he had the strength to do was to grab fist fulls of her shirt, clinging desperately to some semblance of the physical world. Her hands moved to his face.

“It’s alright, Din. You’re not alone. I’m right here. You don’t have to keep fighting. You can leave now and no one will blame you. We’ll go away, just you and me. You fought with everything that you had.”

Din shook his head desperately. “No. I have to finish this. I-I can’t give up. I-I,” he trailed off and tried to suck in a breath. It hurt so badly.

“I know. I’ll help you up. I’ll finish this with you ok?”

He nodded and weakly got to his feet. Stumbling a bit, Fennec caught him and made sure he was steady before handing him his helmet. She was thankful for the steel covering his face once more. Din looked like a corpse and she wasn’t ready to see him like that yet. She would never really be ready, but certainly not now; not while he was still alive and talking to her.

“Let’s get to the riverbed,” Din said and Fennec nodded before they made their way in that direction once more.

**************

Cara was pushing her ship as fast as it would go. She knew she was running out of time and the constant pressure was urging her to travel faster than she’d ever before. Mandalore was roughly an hour away when Grogu, who had been quiet and content for the entirety of the ride started crying. Goosebumps ran down the back of Cara’s neck. This was not a typical fussy cry meaning the child wanted food, water, or was bored in general. This was a cry filled with pain and terror. When she first met the child and his father, she wouldn’t have to know what this cry meant. But now that she knew about Grogu’s powers, she understood the bond he and Din shared. Grogu might have been feeling his father’s pain and fear as they neared their destination.

“It’s alright, kid. You’ll see him soon and maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to fix this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! As always, please rate and review!


	8. The Last Stand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle comes to a close

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovlies! Thank you so much for being patient with me. I hope this chapter was well worth the wait. Enjoy!

By the time Din and Fennec arrived at the riverbed, the looming forms of the AT-AT’s could be seen in the distance through the hazy dust floating through the air. Din spotted Stours directing his troops as the roar of armored footsteps echoed threateningly.

“What’s the status, Stours?” Din gritted out as he approached his general.

“Everything’s in place. Are you sure this is going to work?

“I’ve-I’ve seen it work before. Tr-trust m-me.” Din swallowed thickly, fighting the rising bile and pain threatening to explode from him. His limbs shook with exertion.

“If you say so, Mand’alore,” Stours said. “What now.”

“Scatter your snipers on the opposite end of the river bed and hold your fire until the AT-ATs are fifty meters away. We want to lure them in. When I give the word, concentrate all your firepower and charges on them. We want to disorient the pilots. It’s the only way we can take them down.”

“Yes, Mand’alore,” Stours replied as he started to direct some of his men as Din prescribed.

“Want me to hang back with the snipers? You know I never miss,” Fennec said with a smirk.

Normally Din would have replied with a quick-witted quip but Fennec’s voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere far away and unimportant.

“ _Pay attention son!”_

“I am but-but I’m tired,” Din replied to his adopted father who had jogged up beside him.

_“You’re a soldier, ad. You don’t get tired. You don’t quit. Now stand up and finish this, soldier.”_

“I’m trying. I’m afraid I can’t finish this.”

“Din! Hey, Din, it’s alright. Are you with me?” Fennec urged as she gripped his arms. He’d been present and coherent for a moment but now he seemed to be hallucinating, having a full conversation with someone only his feverish mind could see.

“Let’s run through the drill again. I-I almost had it.”

“You’re on the battlefield, Din. Hey! Who am I?” Fennec was getting nervous as she tried to keep the weakening Mandalorian on his feet. She could feel the intense heat radiating through his thick flight suit.

“I think I’m going to fail, _buir_ ,” Din rasped.

“You need to get him off this battlefield, now. He’s not even lucid anymore,” Stours shouted at Fennec over the sounds of war.

“No! He made me promise not to,” Fennec replied sternly.

“He doesn’t even know where he is! My people should not see their leader like this.”

“Just give him a sec. He’ll filter through. I made a promise. Aren’t you Mandalorians a people of your word?” Fennec turned away from the general and gently pulled off Din’s helmet as well as her own. He was slipping into a world that only skin-to-skin contact could pull him out of. Cupping the sides of his face, she looked him square in the eyes. “Din, look at me.”

His dazed eyes wandered over to her and tried to focus as pained breaths escaped his lungs. He looked like a ghost and his skin was drenched with sweat. Pain dug deep trenches into his features. His beautiful brown eyes were dulled and filled with a cloudy haze.

“It’s me, Din,” she whispered as she pressed her trembling lips against his. For a moment he balked but then melted into her embrace.

 _“Ge’tal.”_ His voice was barely above a whisper.

“It’s me,” she murmured as her hands slid gently from his cheeks to the sides of his neck. She could feel his pulse hammering irregularly with such force she was afraid his heart was trying to pound out of his chest.

“I’m here.” His voice was trembling.

“Good. Let’s finish off these hunks of junk,” she replied, forcing some semblance of confidence and light-heartedness into her voice. She didn’t want to frighten him.

He nodded and she helped him get his helmet back on before she put on her own and adjusted the visor. Din sucked in a deep breath, forcing his mind to clear as he doubled down on every shred of strength he had left. This was the last push. His final task. He could do it. _Focus. Fight. Finish this._

“Stay with the snipers, Fennec. You’re one of the best shots I know. Everyone else ready your positions!”

He watched as his troops directed by Stours move themselves and Din poised with his rifle at the ready and the dark saber clipped safely to his belt. He wouldn’t be needing it for this particular fight. There was a moment where everything was still as everyone held their breath and the thundering steps of the approaching armored vehicles echoed through the dust. Din raised his rifle, finding the glowing red eyes in his scope. There were three of them. The empire felt that was all they would need.

“Steady,” Din urged to the platoon at his command.

Fennec raised her rifle, waiting for his signal. A few more steps and now the sheer size of these metal beasts could be seen as they lumbered ever closer to their targets. Din inhaled once more. _Focus. Be strong. Finish this fight_. The first AT-AT crossed the imaginary boundary he’d drawn in his mind.

“Fire!” He shouted.

A cacophony of blaster fire and detonators drowned out all other noise. The armored walkers were hit with a barrage of blaster shots and thermal detonators exploded at their massive feet. Din fired alongside Fennec as they worked together to draw the metal beasts closer to the trenched riverbed.

“Keep firing!” Din cried as he put his rifle on his back. He was getting ready to make his move. Suddenly the breath he let out caught in his throat and he started coughing. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth and when he sucked in a breath he could feel how congested his lungs were getting. His time was running out fast.

“What’s the plan here? They’re getting closer!” Stours called over the commlink.

“Keep them moving forward. We need them to fall into the ditch,” Din directed as he jumped down from his position and started to jog to the riverbed. He coughed again, this time splattering blood all over the inside of his helmet but he ignored it. _Don’t give up. Don’t give in. Keep running. Keep fighting._

Fennec watched with an anxiety-filled gut as Din ran headlong towards the AT-AT’s. There was nothing on this earth that could quell her fear and she couldn’t stand by and watch him finish this fight alone. For as long as she’d known him, from the feared bounty hunter to a trusted ally, to lover, he’d always done things alone. And now, she didn’t want him to be alone. He’d faced the empire, dark troopers, other bounty hunters, and every other odd that had been stacked against him alone. She’d be damned if he was going to face this by himself. Her pace quickened before she broke into a full run towards him.

Din reached the river bed and readied his detonator charges. It was just like Sorgan. Only this time there was no Cara, no Omera, no villagers, and no Grogu. He was alone, completely and utterly alone. There was a loud groaning creak as one by one, the AT-ATs slipped and fell headfirst into the deep trench. It was go time. Pulling the blaster from the holster at his hip, he shot one of the red-tinted windows out of the first AT-AT and then tossed an activated charge through it before running to the next one and doing the same. H reached the third one, shot out the window, and was preparing to activate and release another charge when he stumbled and fell with a loud cry. His right arm lay limply at his side and his right leg was completely useless.

“No. No no no!” Din cried as he tried to push himself up. His limbs refused to obey him and a chilling fear filled his veins. He pinched his right arm and to his utter horror, he felt nothing. There was zero sensation whatsoever in his dominant arm and leg. He let his body slump to the ground. He’d failed. There was nothing left in him.

_Get up, son._

“I can’t,” Din rasped, trying to pull a painful breath from his congested lungs. Now that the adrenalin was rapidly draining away from him he realized just how hard it was to breathe. The stimulant and his strength were fading, leaving him a decaying shell.

_My son would never leave a fight before it was finished._

“I’m-I’m not your son.”

_That’s right you aren’t. You’ve never been a real Mandalorian. You never will be. You will always be an outsider, an orphan, a foundling. You broke our creed. You didn’t defend our people. So many Mandalorians died because of you. You don’t deserve to be the Mand’alore. You never should have been the Mand’alore. You’re a failure and a fraud._

This of course was no longer his adopted father speaking, but his own voice hammering the words against his frail body. He gritted his teeth and tried to push himself up with his left arm. He could do this. He _had_ to do this. Just one more bit of strength.

_You’ve disappointed me, son._

A new voice was now filling his head, one he hadn’t heard in a long time. It was the voice of his biological father.

_I raised you to be a man of peace and honor. Instead, you have become a man of blood and cruelty. You’ve murdered people. You didn’t fight to keep your son. After all the violence and death at your hands, you let your son slip away. Look at you now. Your last moments will be filled with war. That is not what your mother and I wanted for you._

“Din!”

Din jerked his head up and sucked in a ragged breath into his starved lungs. Fennec was kneeling in front of him, her beautiful features blocked by her visor. “Fennec!” He gasped as he pressed a detonator into her palm. “Toss it now and run!”

The first detonator went off, turning the farthest AT-AT in a fiery wreckage. The sound was deafening. Fennec jumped to her feet and with expert precision, tossed the detonator through the shot-out eye of the last armored walker just as the second explosion went off dangerously close to where Din was lying. She sprinted back to him and grabbed him from under the arms.

“N-not going to make it,” Din forced out. He couldn’t breathe and his vision was starting to gray around the edges.

“I won’t leave you,” Fennec gritted as she started to lug his limp body along the ground, using every bit of her strength.

Din groaned and used his good leg to help her push his dying body along as she pulled him clear of the trench. The last detonator went off and the ground shook as a wave of tremendous heat overtook the couple. Out of instinct, Fennec threw her body over Din’s to protect him from any flying projectiles and the Mandalorian wrapped his good arm around her as he squeezed his eyes shut. Fennec felt her ears ringing and she was disoriented for a moment before she cautiously opened her eyes. To her relief, the last AT-AT was burning and wrecked beyond use. It was over. The battle was won.

“F-finished this, S-S-Stours,” Din gasped over the commlink and Fennec moved off his body. She could see his chest heaving as he fought for breath and heard pain lacing every gasp.

She ripped her helmet off before pulling his off too, gasping at the blood running down his chin. Her dark hair caught in the wind gusting over the terrain and Stours and his soldiers ran past to finish off what was left of the enemy army. She ignored it. None of it mattered now.

“You did it, Din. It’s over. You finished. Let’s get back now. You can rest. I’ll take a nap with you. You’ll be alright. You’ll be ok.” Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She couldn’t hold them back anymore.

He shook his head and fought for another breath. “Too-too late.”

“No. Please Din,” Fennec begged as she took his paralyzed hand and pressed it against her cheek. His skin was cold. “What about your son? You have to see him. You have to. Stay with me, Din please.”Letting go of his hand, she gathered his limp body in her arms and pressed the medical alert button on his bracer.

“Ne-never got to see Gr-Grogu. Didn’t ke-keep my promise.”

“Don’t talk, Din. The medic’s on her way. We’ll get you off this battlefield so you can see your son.”

“Wish we had-had more time,” he gritted out before another cough sent blood spilling out of his mouth.

“Me too,” Fennec sobbed. “I care about you Din. From that moment on Tython, I couldn’t help it.”

With one last spark Din managed a small smile beneath lifeless eyes. Fennec managed a smile back. Then Din’s body was going rigid in her arms. Then an agonized scream was ripping itself from his lips. Then violent seizures were wracking his limp frame. Then Bo-Katan was pulling her away from him as the medic knelt beside him, trying to stabilize him. The screams were echoing across the battlefield. They were full of agony and fear. They were the final note in the betrayal against him.

And then silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Keep an eye out for the next chapter soon! As always, please rate and review!


	9. The Miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One last bit of hope prevails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! I'm back at it with another chapter! I hope this one makes up for the emotional roller coaster of the last one!

By the time Cara landed her ship just outside the base, the bodies of the stormtroopers were piled up to dispose of. Cara felt horror roll through her stomach. The Imperial Remnant must have struck after she left. For all she knew, everyone she cared about was dead and the boy currently babbling in her arms was now fatherless.

“Hey! Hey You!” Cara called to a passing Mandalorian. The purple-armored figure stopped and her visor turned to face the shock trooper.

“What happened here?”

“The Empire attacked shortly after you departed,” she replied. “Thanks to the bravery and skill of our Mand’alore and his army we won.”

“Where is he? I brought his son.”

The Mandalorian was quiet and Cara’s heart sank as she clutched the baby in her arms close.

“Where is Din?!” She demanded loudly.

“He was taken from the battlefield. He’s,” the Mandalorian paused and took in a shuddering breath. “He-“

Cara couldn’t waste another second as she took off at a dead run for the Din’s home nestled in the Mandalorian base. If she was too late she would never forgive herself. Her feet pounded into the barren terrain as she tore through the open gate. Grogu whimpered in her arms before he started sobbing. Whether he sensed her overwhelming fear or something much worse she didn’t know. All she could do was get to Din’s side as fast as she could.

*********************

“I’m sorry for your loss,” the medic said in a somber voice as she touched Fennec’s shoulder.

She looked at the medic and gave her a nod before turning her tear-filled eyes to the cold and pale form lying on his bed. The medic left without another word. Din had lapsed into a coma shortly after the seizures on the battlefield stopped. Once he was brought home the medic checked him over only to discover that he was no longer showing any signs of waking up. The poison had taken its final hold. Fennec couldn’t fight the sob that bubbled up from her throat as she held his hand to her cheek, wishing desperately that she could feel the warmth of his skin one last time. With a heavy heart, she gently removed the oxygen mask from his face. He wouldn’t need it anymore. She studied his face, wanting to memorize every attribute; his full lips, his angular nose, his sharp jawline, the mustache gracing his upper lip. Even though his eyes were closed, she knew beautiful brown eyes were behind the lids. Another sob escaped her. Those eyes would never see another sunrise or look at her affection ever again. She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

“I’m so sorry, Din,” she whispered. “I couldn’t save you this time. Boba and I got lucky the first time I guess. And stars, I would give anything just to have one more night with you. I’d give everything I have just to hear you say my name again. We never had a chance, you and I. We-we never had time to figure out if we could be something more than two lost souls just looking to pass the time.” She sniffed and rested her forehead against his. “You were so much more to me than that.”

****************

Cara raced up the hill only to find Stours, Bo-Katan, and a few of the higher ranking Mandalorians standing outside Din’s door. Her stomach churned. She’d been in the military long enough to know what this meant. It was the last guard and it was reserved for the truly heroic and brave. High-ranking personnel would stand guard at the home of a service member who was dying to let them know that they weren’t alone and they could leave this galaxy in peace. Cara lost count of how many times she stood the last guard for brothers and sisters in arms. Bo-Katan raised her head as Cara approached with Grogu in her arms and gave the shock trooper a solemn look.

“Please, please tell me I’m not too late,” Cara begged breathlessly.

“I’m so sorry, Cara,” Stours replied in a somber tone. “Our Mand’alore is going to join the Warriors Among the Stars.” 

Cara ignored him and burst into the hut to find Fennec kneeling beside Din’s bed weeping softly. She was overcome with pure shock and her eyes moved from the shaking woman to the prone man in the bed as she absent-mindedly set Grogu down. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Din was strong and as tough as they came. He never quit and he never backed down. He’d cheated death so many times it was almost a sport for him. He couldn’t possibly be dead. And Fennec. She was a hardened criminal whose hands would forever be stained red with the blood of her victims. Just out of curiosity Cara had looked up Fennec’s bounty once and was shocked by the crimes this woman had committed in her career. She was a fearsome assassin, part flesh, part machine. She wasn’t supposed to be crying over the prone body of a friend the way she was now.

Fennec heard Cara entered and tore her eyes from Din to look at the shock trooper. She sniffed and wiped at her tears furiously as the two women gave each other a knowing look. They didn’t need to voice out loud their pain and grief nor offer each other fruitless condolences on losing someone so important.

“Papa?” Fennec looked down at the tiny child who was clinging to Din’s limp hand that was hanging off the side of the bed. His young face wrinkled with confusion. Fennec fought back the grief that was threatening to let loose as she took the babe and gently set him on the bed beside his father.

“I’m sorry, Little One. He loved you so much and he fought so hard so he could see you again.” 

Grogu looked at Fennec, his large eyes full of unshed tears before he crawled over the blankets and Din’s arm to get to his head. “Papa?” He whimpered again as he pressed his little face against his father’s. His tiny body started to shake with his sobs when he reached out to feel Din’s life force and found only darkness.

Fennec thought her heart was going to shatter. This pain and grief were too much for her to bear. Ever since she lost her family as a young girl she vowed to never let herself get attached. She’d built up walls that were impossible to climb. Always work alone and never trust anyone. It had been her philosophy over the entirety of her career. _Make the best deal for yourself and survive_. She’d said that once to a cocky bounty hunter in an attempt to get him to betray the man she was now grieving for. In the last year, she discovered through acts of selfless kindness from Boba, Din, and Cara that her stone-cold heart could in fact feel some semblance of loyalty, friendship, and, dare she say love. It wasn’t fair that a part of that was being ripped away from her now.

She heard some soft grunting and looked to see that Grogu had moved from Din’s head to his chest. His tiny hands were splayed out and his large eyes were closed as more tears continued to spill down his small cheeks. Fennec knew nothing of The Force nor did she care enough to get acquainted with it. Boba had once shared stories of the Jedi and the mystical powers they possessed but she’d never seen anything like what he described with her own eyes. She supposed this child whom she was told possessed such powers was attempting to sense his father through his invisible flow of energy and she gave the child a pitying look.

“I’m sorry, Little One. He’s gone. There’s nothing to sense anymore.” The child ignored her and continued to concentrate. His little body trembled slightly and Fennec reached to take him from Din’s side when a soft exhale caught her attention.

“Papa?” The baby said again. This time the tone was hopeful.

Fennec choked on a scream as Din’s hand moved to rest against the baby’s back and hold him close to his chest as his eyes fluttered open.

“Ad’ika?” His voice was weak and hoarse but it was his voice nonetheless.

“Din?” Fennec hardly dared to speak his name lest she ruin whatever tricks her mind must be playing on her.

His gaze drifted to her. “Ge’tal.” He reached up to cup her face, his thumb gently stroking away her tears. His skin was warm once more.

“Din you-you were dead,” Fennec sobbed. She wasn’t aware that Cara had walked up behind her until she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“I’ve seen the kid heal before but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Cara breathed out in amazement.

Din’s head lolled to the side so he could marvel at his tiny son who was beaming at him. In the past, the child would be unconscious after using so much of his powers and deep into a restorative hibernation but now, he was alert and ready for action despite using what Din could only imagine was a tremendous amount of power.

“You’ve gotten so strong, Kid,” Din whispered as he pulled his son into a hug. The pain of missing Grogu for nearly a year was swelling in his heart and he squeezed his eyes against the tears that were threatening to spill.

“Papa!” Grogu exclaimed as he buried himself against Din’s chest and wrapped his little arms as best as he could around his protector.

“I missed you too, Kid,” Din murmured before looking up at Cara. “Thank you for bringing him.”

“Of course, Din. The Jedi was very understanding.”

He moved to push himself up but his body was still weak and his arm trembled with exertion. Fennec wrapped her arm around his shoulders and started to ease him into a sitting position.

“Easy, Din,” she said softly, still in disbelief that he was alive. He cocked his head and gave her a pointed look.

“What’s wrong?”

“You were dead, Din. I watched you take your last breaths. And-And I’m so scared this is all just a dream-”

Her words were cut off as Din leaned forward and his lips met hers. She melted instantly against his kiss. There was no war or intrigue or death. For a moment it was just them as she tasted him on her tongue.

“Not a dream, Fennec. I’m real,” he said in a hushed voice against her lips before the couple parted.

“I have many questions about you two,” Cara said with a slightly amused look. “But right now shouldn’t we be investigating who did this?”

“I already know. Where is everyone else?”

“Bo-Katan and Stours are outside. I saw others outside the base cleaning up when I arrived.”

“Good. Call in Bo-Katan and Stours please,” Din directed Cara before he turned to Fennec. “Where’s my armor and the darksaber?”

“Locked safely away in your closet. They were brought in with you off the battlefield,” Fennec replied.

“Good,” Din replied. His voice sounded tired.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better than I have in days. It’s just taking a bit for my strength to come back,” Din confessed. The conversation ceased when Bo-Katan and Stours entered the room. They both looked completely shocked the moment they saw Din sitting on the edge of the bed with his son cradled in one arm. He was a bit weak-looking and his hair was a disheveled mess, but he was alive nonetheless.

“Din! I thought you were dead!” Bo-Katan exclaimed in disbelief.

“The medic told us there was nothing that could be done,” Stours chimed in.

“I owe my life to the Child,” Din said as he gestured to Grogu. “He saved my life.”

“It’s a pleasure to have you back,” Bo-Katan replied. Fennec had never heard the female Mandalorian speak in such a gentle tone as if all her contempt for him had washed away.

“Thank you. But now there is the small matter of finding and punishing the one who attempted to poison me and shoot Fennec. What do you suggest we do to the culprit?”

“We should execute him for treason and cowardice, Mand’alore,” Stours pipped up.

“I agree. Whoever did this deserves nothing less than death,” Bo-Katan replied.

Din nodded as he pushed himself to his feet. His legs were a bit wobbly and Fennec rose to help stabilize him before he found his footing. He stood proud and tall, every bit the leader, and looked Stours square in the eye.

“Zura Stours, I challenge you in a trial by combat.”

The room went deadly silent and Stours’ eyes narrowed at Din, as he was unable to form words for a moment. A sneer slowly spread over the general’s face. “How did you know?”

Fennec felt a rushing in her ears. Stours had been by Din’s side since the very beginning. He’d been in the room watching while Din suffered and died, pretending to be a trusted friend. Her blood began to boil.

“We all have our vices and weaknesses. Your fondness for ne’tra is yours. You and I are the only ones that will tolerate its strong taste. I believe you once said we were so much alike in that nature. The medic found traces of it in the sample of my poisoned blood.” 

Stours scoffed. “I was unaware that we had such equipment here on Mand’alore to provide such an extensive lab result.”

“It’s a newer development that I was recently overseeing,” Din replied firmly. “And the attempt on Fennec’s life?” 

“I knew there was something between you two the moment she arrived. When she went back to her ship I bought someone off to snipe her. I told them she was the one who attempted to murder you.”

“Why, Stours? You are a great general and someone I trusted as a friend.” There was no masking the hurt in Din’s voice nor the pained look on his face.

“Exactly. _I_ should have been Mand’alore. I have been fighting for our people since the Clone Wars. No one on this planet deserves it more than me. And suddenly I am supposed to take orders from some outsider who got lucky? You aren’t even a true Mandalorian. You are a foundling and a Child of the Watch. You don’t deserve to sit on the throne.”

“If he died, the darksaber would have gone to Bo-Katan, not you,” Fennec interjected.

Stours sneered at her. “Quiet, whore.”

“Enough!” Din shouted. The rage was spilling into his tone as he clenched his fist. “You will not speak to her like that or I’ll kill you where you stand.”

Stours braced. “Everyone knew how bitter Bo-Katan was that you won the darksaber. When it was announced that you were poisoned and the throne fell to her she would be immediately suspected of your murder and taken care of. And if not?” He gave Bo-Katan a look of contempt. “I am a far greater warrior than she. I would have been able to take the darksaber from her easily.”

Din stared Stours down with a look of pure hatred. “Well, now it’s time to put that theory to the test. I challenge you to a trial by combat.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“By your own words, you condemned the one responsible to death. I feel as if I’m being more than fair given your military service and rank. After all, it’s what a _real_ Mand’alore would do.” Din’s tone was biting and full of contempt.

“As you wish, Mand’alore,” Stours griped back.

“Go and prepare yourself. I will meet you in front of the assembly hall. And don’t even think about trying to run. You and I both know you have nowhere left to go.”

Stours didn’t even bow as he left the hut in a huff. Din let out a breath he’d been holding as he stumbled back a bit and sat down on the edge of the bed again.

“You can’t possibly fight him, Din. You’re still weak and recovering,” Fennec urged.

“Stours is a powerful warrior. You will need every bit of your strength to fight him,” Bo-Katan pointed out.

“He insulted my honor and most importantly he tried to hurt you,” Din replied as he brushed a stray lock of hair behind Fennec’s ear lovingly. “I am the Mand’alore and I will fight for my honor. Bo-Katan, you and Cara go and gather everyone to the assembly hall. We don’t have much time.”

“Yes, Mand’alore,” Bo-Katan replied as she and Cara left the hut in a hurry.

“You aren’t going to let this go, are you? It would be so much easier to just line up a firing squad and execute him,” Fennec pointed out as she took Grogu from his arms so he could stand and prepare for the trial.

“I know. But if he doubts that I won the throne because I got lucky, then I owe it to the people to earn their loyalty.”

“And if he wins? I can’t lose you a second time. Neither can your son.”

“I won’t let him win. I have far much to fight for,” Din replied as he held her close. Grogu gripped the soft material of his flight suit.

“Fine. But just like before, I am going to be right beside you. You won’t be alone.”

“I’d expect nothing less.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for all the beautiful comments you guys leave for me. They truly make my day in the middle of difficult times. Stay tuned for more and as always, please rate and review!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know if I should continue! As always, please rate and review!


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